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RIVERSIDE TEXTBOOKS 
IN EDUCATION 

EDITED BY ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY 

PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION 
LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY 



DIVISION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION 

UNDER THE EDITORIAL DIRECTION 

OF ALEXANDER INGLIS 

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



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TEACHING IN RURAL 
SCHOOLS 



BY 



THOMAS JACKSON WOOFTER 

DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION 
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA 




HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



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COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY THOMAS JACKSON WOOFTER 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVBD 



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NOV -7 1317 



CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 



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EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

The United States Census Bureau classifies as living under 
rural conditions all persons living in the open country and 
in towns and villages having less that 2500 inhabitants. 
On this basis, according to the census of 1910, 53.7 per cent 
of the population of the United States was classed as rural, 
and the figures probably have not changed materially since 
that date. In the last printed report of the United States 
Commissioner of Education it was stated that, during the 
preceding year, 58.4 per cent of the children enrolled in the 
public schools of the United States were enrolled in schools 
classified by the Census Bureau as rural, while of the 600,000 
teachers employed, 60 per cent were employed in these 
rural communities. Approximately eighteen million children 
were enrolled in these same schools, and about 95 per cent 
of these were in the elementary grades. 

When we turn from a consideration of the United States 
as a whole to a consideration of the individual States, we 
find that in 34 out of the 48 States more than 50 per cent of 
the population was Uving, in 1910, under conditions classed 
as rural, and in 17 of the 48 States the number so living 
exceeded 75 per cent of the whole. In 11 States the number 
exceeded 80 per cent of the whole. In the 17 States in which 
the population was more than 75 per cent rural, from 75 to 
80 per cent of the teachers and children are working in rural 
schools. Still more, approximately 215,000 of the 600,000 
teachers employed in all public schools in the United States 
are to-day working in one-teacher rural schools. In other 
words, fully one third of the teachers employed in the 
United States to-day are working alone, with small groups 



vi EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

of children, at the difficult problem of rural education and 
rural-Ufe improvement. 

When we recall that salaries for rural teachers are pro- 
verbially low, that the best rural teachers are continually- 
being drawn away to the cities, that in many States but few 
rural teachers have had normal-school training, that many 
are teaching for the first time, that the teaching equipment 
is poor and the community devotion to schools often at a 
low ebb, that adequate professional supervision of the teach- 
er's work is almost entirely absent, and that the problem 
of rural service which these teachers face is a large and a 
difficult one, we can see reasons why the problem of proper 
rural education has awakened so much thoughtful atten- 
tion on the part of those interested in national educational 
progress. 

As a result of so much attention to the problem there 
has arisen, especially during the past ten years, a somewhat 
general demand in all parts of the United States for a new 
and a better type of educational service for those who live 
in the villages and on the farms. The demand is that the 
school shall relate its work more closely to rural-life needs, 
that children shall be trained for intelhgent living on the 
farm instead of being educated away from it, and that both 
the teacher and the school shall render larger community 
helpfulness and service. With the changing character, in 
many of our States, of our rural population, due to the in- 
flux of the foreign-born, the rapid increase of tenantry, the 
shrinkage in the size of the rural schools, and the realiza- 
tion that many of the best rural families are moving to 
the towns and cities that they may provide their children 
with better educational advantages, the problem of rural 
education has been brought acutely to the front. As a 
result probably as much good thinking has been given to 
the combined rural-life and rural-school problems during 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION vii 

the past decade as to any other phase of community or 
educational service. 

The author of this volume in the series, living in a State 
where four fifths of the population are classified as rural, and 
where rural education for two races presents a difficult edu- 
cational and financial problem, has for years been closely in 
touch with the many movements looking toward the im- 
provement of rural life and education. He has been espe- 
cially identified with the school side of the movement, and 
by reason of this he is particularly well equipped to prepare 
a book on teaching in rural schools which will be of practi- 
cal service to teachers. This he has done, and for thousands 
of rural teachers, both beginners and those of some years of 
rural service, such a volume as the present one should prove 
to be one of large professional helpfulness. It should accord- 
ingly find an important place for itself in normal schools 
and teacher-training classes in high schools, as well as in 
state reading circles in many of those States where the popu- 
lation is preponderately rural. 

Ellwood p. Cubberley. 



PREFACE 

This book is an outgrowth of the experience of years 
spent in teaching in rural schools and of other years given 
to the preparation of teachers. Many excellent manuals 
have been written for teachers in well-graded schools of 
cities and towns. Some of these manuals give a few para- 
graphs to the problems of rural teachers. Not until quite 
recently have these teachers been recognized by special 
books devoted to their peculiar field. This manual has not 
only kept the rural teacher foremost in thought, but through- 
out its pages the teacher of the small ungraded or partially 
graded rural school has been kept constantly in mind. The 
treatment aims to accomplish several things, among which 
are the follbwing: — 

1. To bring to attention the needs of rural life, the broad- 
ening vision of rural life, and the possible contributions 
of the rural school to this life. 

2. To unfold in a clear and helpful way some introductory 
guiding principles of education. 

3. To start any rural teacher on the road of the best in 
modern methods in teaching and in managing. 

4. To direct such a teacher to the most helpful aids in 
educational literature in connection with the various 
phases of theory and practice. 

If the book succeeds in these aims, it will justify itself as 
an introductory study for all rural teachers who wish to 
become professional craftsmen. 

Owing to necessary limitations of space, some topics have 
been treated briefly, others omitted. Doubtless errors of 



X PREFACE 

omission and of commission may readily be pointed out. 
But with sympathy and good will this volume goes forth on 
its mission. 

T. J. W. 

University of Georgia, Athens. 



CONTENTS 

PART I 
ORGANIZATION, INSTRUCTION, AND CONTROL 

CHAPTER I. Introduction S 

Early American schools — Changing home conditions — De- 
velopment of the rural-life problem — The enrichment of rural 
life — The rural school amid the change — The reorganization 
and redirection of the rural school. 

Questions for discussion — Some good books for teachers. 

CHAPTER n. The Rubal School .9 

I. Its Function and Scope in General. 

The school a specialized institution — Education for com- 
plete living — Rare opportunity of rural schools — Broad- 
ening view of the rural school. 
II. Rural Life Needs. 

The bodily life — The intellectual life — The aesthetic 
life — The industrial life — The social life — The moral and 
religious life — Conclusion. 
HI. Types op Rural Schools. 

The consolidated school — Progress of consolidation — 
The one-teacher school — Standard schools — The Missouri 
score card. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER III. The Teacher 25 

The Rural-School Teacher. 
I. Natural Equipment. 

Teaching Personality — Important teacher-qualities: 
Good health, well preserved — Pleasing personality — Im- 
agination — Appreciation of rural life — Character — Other 
quahties. 
II. Preparation. 

Scholastic preparation — Professional preparation — 
Efficiency maintained — The teacher in service — Teachers' 
salaries. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 



xii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IV. Organization and Management 

I. The School Plant. 

The school grounds — The schoolhouse — Heating and 
ventilation — The water supply — Blackboards — School 
desks — Other equipment. 

II. Organizing the Plant. 

Before the opening day — Assistance of pupils — Pre- 
liminary pupil organization — Classifying and seating. 

III. Organizing the Work of the School. 

The course of study — Possible reorganizations of the 
school — Alternation of classes — A suggestive program for 
a rural school of eight grades and one teacher — Using older 
pupils as teacher-assistants. 

IV. Organizing Recreation. 

The value of play — • Supervision of play — Grouping of 
pupils in play periods — Books and play apparatus — Be- 
ginnings in play organization. 

V. Organizing the Community. 

School events — Special-day programs — Other sugges- 
tions for community effort — Some rural-community char- 
acteristics. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 



CHAPTER V. General Principles of Teaching . . 65 
I. The Child. 

I. Periods of Growth and Development. 

Infancy and early childhood — Childhood — Char- 
acteristics of this early period — Youth, or adolescence 
— Adolescent characteristics — The problem of adap- 
tation — Chronological and physiological age — Indi- 
vidual differences — Average weight and height. 

II. The Child's Original Capital. 

Instincts and general innate tendencies — The devel- 
opment of instincts — Individual variations. 

III. Interests. 

Forcing and arrested development — Interests awak- 
ened by nature — Interests centering in man — Dr. 
Dewey's classification — How to develop interest — In- 
terest and drill. 



CONTENTS xiii 

IV. Apperception. 

Definition and illustrations — Some applications for 
teachers. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER VI. General Principles of Teaching . . 86 

II. The Recitation. 

Lessons and recitations — How to handle recitations in 
rural schools — Varieties of recitation work — The inductive- 
deductive aim — Influence of Pestalozzi and Herbart — The 
steps of a recitation — ■ Applications of the process to school 
work — Limitations of the process — The testing aim — The 
drilling aim — The reviewing aim — The appreciation aim 

— The study aim — • Desk work — Suggestions for primary- 
grade desk work — Questioning — Orderly thinking and 
talking — Plans of lessons. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER Vn. Discipline ......... 105 

I. General Purpose 
II. More Specific Purposes. 

III. General Methods in Discipline. 

The teacher as monarch — The dominating personality — 
Discipline through interest — Discipline through self-interest 

— Discipline through awakening higher ambitions. 

IV. Disciplinary Measures. 

1. Preventive measures. 

Good organization and instruction — Repression vs. \ 
expression. 

2. Constructive measures. 

Forming good habits — Creating a wholesome school 
spirit or atmosphere — Reconstructing a school com- 
munity — Use of incentives — • Moral training — 
Methods in moral instruction — Moral forces of impor- 
tance. 

3. Corrective measures. 

Some punishment at times necessary — Guiding prin- 
ciples in punishment — Some school faults, and how to ! 
handle them — A school-conduct platform — Corporal 
punishment — Improper and proper punishments. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 



xiv CONTENTS 

PART II 
TEACHING THE ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL SUBJECTS 

CHAPTER Vin. Introductory 135 

Child needs and cycles — Fundamental studies of the first six 
years — The upper grades — What the second part will in- 
clude. 

CHAPTER IX. Reading and Literature . . . .137 

Importance of reading — The alphabetic method — The word 
method — The sentence method — The phonic method — Sup- 
plemental reading needed. 
First Lessons. 

Objective work — Child interests — Use script — Drill 
cards — Phonics — Ear drills — Order of teaching the letters 
and sounds — Diacritical marks — Other first-grade sug- 
gestions. 
Second Grade. 

Lengthening thought-getting and giving — Stories: dramatic 
work — Building words: voice training. 
Third Grade. 

Emphasis on silent reading. 
Upper Grades. 
Oral Reading. 

Importance of reading aloud — Training in thought-getting 
— Reading to the children — Selections for memorizing. 
The School Library. 

A good rural-school library — Keeping up the library. 
Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER X. The English Language . . . ^' . 163 

I. Elementary Language Lessons. 

Qualities to be cultivated — Importance of language for 
school work — First steps — Formal lessons — Written 
forms. 

1. Written work in primary grades. 

First year — Second year — Third year. 

2. Written work in upper grades; composition work. 

Sequence — Types of compositions — Making 
compositions real — Correcting compositions — 
Books for teachers. 



CONTENTS XV 

II. Story-Telling. 

Some values — Kinds of stories — Telling the stories — 
Books for teachers. 

III. Picture Lessons. 

School use of pictures — Pictures for language lessons — 
' Kinds of picture lessons — Suggestions of methods — Books 
for teachers. 

IV. Grammar. 

Some values — Where to be taught — Inductive-deduc- 
tive method — Diagramming. 
Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 



CHAPTER XI. Spelling 187 

Two important tool subjects — Some faults in teaching spell- 
ing — Needed reforms — Selection of words — Small number 
of words needed — The "one hundred spelling demons" — Local 
vocabularies and spelling needs — Methods of study — Better 
methods in teaching spelling — Dictionary work — Word study 
and spelling rules — Written and oral spelHng — Simplified 
spelling. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 



CHAPTER XII. Penmanship . . ... . .199 

Qualities of good penmanship — Systems of penmanship — 
Some teaching faults — Points on which there is general agree- 
ment. 
Some method suggestions. 

Pen and pencil — Position, penholding, and movement — • 
Form and movement — • Other suggestions — Stimulus of a writing 
scale — Standards which ought to be attained. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER XIII. History and Civics 211 

The point of view — Fact history and human history — Sum- 
mary as to purpose. 
I. Primary History. 

Early beginnings — Kinds of historical stories — Stories 
of primitive life — Stories from real history — Introducing 
the real historical personage — Selection of stories — Value 
of biography — Story treatment. 



xvi CONTENTS 

II. Advanced History. 

The book phase — The text and its use — Advantages of 
a topical method — • The organization of textbooks — Dates 
in history — Reviews — Aids — Important results. 

III. Cmcs. 

An outgrowth from other studies — Practical civics. 
Questions for discussion — Supplemental books for pup- 
ils and teachers — Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER XIV. Geography 231 

Old and new types — A study of the earth as the home of man 

— Some values. 

I. Primary Geography. 

The story approach — The nature-study approach — • Sug- 
gestive topics — Primary globe lessons — References. 
II. Advanced Geography. 

Need for type studies — What a type study is — Type 
cities — North America a type continent — Man's contact 
with nature the center of geography — Map-making — 
Drawing the schoolroom and the locaUty — Filling in out- 
line maps — Imaginary journeys — Use of pictures — Other 
helps. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER XV. Arithmetic 250 

Another necessary tool subject — Some reform tendencies — 
How little arithmetic we need — The fundamentals in arith- 
metical instruction. 
I. Systems of Primary Method. 

The old system — The Grube system — The Rational 
System — Characteristics of modern method — Demands on 
rural-school arithmetic. 
II. Brief Outline of the Arithmetic Course. 

Plan of the course — Induction — Interpretation — Steps 
in solution — Miscellaneous problems. 
Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER XVI. Elementary Science and Agriculture 263 

Recognition of values — Moral and religious value of science 

— Man's racial evolution — A parallel evolution in the study of 
nature. 



CONTENTS xvii 

I. Elementary Nature Study. 

Methods — Guiding principles in selection — Methods of 
study — Correlating the work with other subjects — Sug- 
gestive material — Outline of w<5rk. 
II. Agriculture. 

The teaching of agriculture — School gardens — Boys* 
and girls' clubs — Types of clubs organized — The general 
plan for these clubs — Organizing a county — Independent 
organizations — • Advantages of the project method — Ex- 
hibits and awards. 
III. Advanced Nature and Agricultural Studies. 

Outlines for general bird study — Outlines for insect study 

— Other important studies — Topics for study, by months 

— Supplementary topics — ■ Good farm lessons. 

General helps for teachers — • Questions for discussion — 
Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER XVn. Physiology, Hygiene, Sanitation . 296 

The rural school and health — ■ Physical conditions — ■ What a 
rural school should teach — Child hygiene important — ^The 
health survey — The teacher's records — Pupil sanitary sur- 
veys — Mental hygiene. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 

CHAPTER XVni. Akts and Crafts 306 

I. Home Economics. 

Club and home work. 
1. Cookery. 

Some general topics for study and club discussion 
— Special recipes and menus — Dishwashing — • 
School lunches — Supplies — Conduct of the work. 
S. Needlecraft. 

Sewing and care of clothes — Neatness and taste. 

II. The Manual Arts. 

Early grade work — Woodwork — Care of tools — Work- 
ing drawings — Projects — How to handle the work if there 
is no special room for it. 

Questions for discussion — Books for teachers. 

APPENDIX. A List of Twenty Good Books for 
Rural-School Teachers 317 

INDEX 323 



■C; 



LIST OF FIGURES 

1. A type of the consolidated school ...... 17 

2. A typical rural school of the better class .... 20 

3. A typical present-day interior 37 

4. A rearranged interior 38 

5. A model interior for a one-teacher rural schoolhouse . 40 

6. A well-arranged rural schoolhouse 41 

7. The model rural school at Mayville, North Dakota . . 42 

8. Desk too high, and the result . 43 

9. Showing growth in height and weight 66 

10. Showing comparative proportion of time to be devoted to 
the mechanics of reading and to mental and emotional 
training 139 

11. Showing comparison of amount of oral and silent reading 
advisable in the various grades 156 

12. Ayres Measuring-Scale for Ability in Spelling . . . 190 

13. Showing proper position of body and paper in writing, with 
reference to the desk 203 

14. One section from the Ayres Handwriting Scale . . . 208 

15. One section from the Thorndike Scale 209 

16. Health defects in city and country children compared . 299 

17. Showing some health conditions brought out by a health 
survey of a city school system 303 



TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

PART I 
ORGANIZATION, INSTRUCTION, AND CONTROL 



TEACHING IN KUKAL SCHOOLS 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

Early American schools. In very early days with any 
society of people, there were no schools and no teachers as 
such. Children learned in the family and from people in the 
group. As knowledge accumulated, teachers became neces- 
sary; and as groups grew larger and more complex, schools 
were started to help the home and the community with the 
children. Thus, from the first, teachers and schools were 
designed as auxiliaries of the home and community. The 
teacher took the place of the parent for the time, and the 
school was a small community to prepare for life in the 
larger community. A modern school should keep in mind 
this same mission. 

In our earlier colonial days, people were occupied in the 
struggle with the wilderness and with a savage people. 
Very little scholarship was needed for this purpose, hence 
schools had little to teach. The colonies early took steps 
to provide the education thought best — reading, writing, 
spelling, a very little arithmetic, and the rudiments of re- 
ligion, mainly the catechism. The religious aim was most 
prominent. 

Later on, schools called "Latin Grammar Schools " came 
to predominate, such being schools after ideas of those in 
Europe. The prominent aim with these at first was educa- 
tion in the Latin and Greek classics, but later the aim shifted 
to the discipline of the mind. This led to the introduction of 



4 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

algebra, and to a greater stress on grammar, spelling, and 
arithmetic, since these furnished the best matter for disci- 
plinary drill. In the nineteenth century the pubUc schools 
modified this further by gradual additions of some history, 
geography, physiology, civics, and primary language, though 
these were taught mainly as dry book-studies and with the 
same methods of drill. 

Changing home conditions. While all this was taking 
place in the schools, conditions were changing in the home 
and commimity. At first the home produced nearly all the 
necessaries of life. Milk, butter, eggs, meat, preserves, jel- 
lies, and similar eatables were home products. Grains were 
raised on the farm and converted into meal, flour, and hom- 
iny at home, or at a neighborhood watermill. Wool, cotton, 
linen, and hides were home products, converted into cloth 
and leather at home, and there made into clothing for mem- 
bers of the family, harness for the horses, carpets for the 
floors, and furnishing for beds, windows, etc. Farm, ranch, 
or plantation had its carpenter and blacksmith shops. Boys 
and girls entered into all these activities of home productiv- 
ity and equipment, and thus, without calling it such, they 
were acquiring a valuable education outside the schools. 

This old order has largely passed. With the coming of 
steam and factories a new order has developed, and most of 
these industries have gone out from the home. What for- 
merly were home products must now be purchased at stores 
and markets. Children are thus deprived of valuable indus- 
trial training in the home, whilst women and children have 
not the same opportunities as of old to contribute as much 
to the support of the family. 

Development of the rural-life problem. In this new order 
towns and cities grew up rapidly. People drifted rapidly 
from country to town and city. Communities thinned out, 
many farms were abandoned, and other changes took place 



INTRODUCTION 5 

to make country life more barren, uninteresting, and appar- 
ently undesirable. The country school and the country 
church, formerly two great centers of community life, were 
neglected, lost sight of in the drift of things, and nearly 
starved to death. 

Just recently have we awakened to the real state of affairs. 
To-day we are taking stock and studying readjustments. 
Very few rural schools have as yet been able to change so 
as to adapt to the new order of things. This has not been 
the fault of the teachers. The city has been absorbing the 
children, teachers, and substance of the country. We now 
reaHze that, in the long run, this is very bad for both city 
and country; for, in this land, cities cannot thrive without a 
prosperous country around, to say nothing of the effect on 
human character to have a nation run too far cityward. 

The enrichment of rural life. Many recent developments 
tend to change country life into a happier, more fruitful, 
and a more desirable existence. Better farm machinery, 
telephones, rural mail dehvery, parcels post, automobiles, 
and the extension of trolley systems may be mentioned as 
factors contributing to the enrichment of coimtry life. 
Farming is becoming more scientific and productive, and 
the farmer is getting better prices and wider markets for 
his products, all going to make farming often a better busi- 
ness than merchandising. It can be made one of the most 
desirable businesses of the world. 

The farm, too, can be made one of the most desirable of 
places in which to Uve and to bring up a family of children. 
The present barrenness and poverty of cultural influence 
which characterizes so many of our rural homes is not neces- 
sary. A httle more knowledge of life conditions, a httle more 
taste, and a little more scientific knowledge relating to farm- 
ing and home-making could greatly change existing condi- 
tions. These the rural school should supply. To improve 



e TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

farming, to help make better homes and better and happier 
people, to increase the pleasures and the comforts of the 
home, and to give a larger outlook to both the children and 
the parents, is much more the mission of the country school 
and the country teacher than to teach the common-school 
branches or to drill in the facts of the textbook or the course 
of study. 

The rural school amid the change. But, while this new 
and more valuable era is dawning for country life, how about 
the coimtry school? City schools have made great progress, 
but the vast majority of rural schools have not been able to 
readjust to the changed conditions. In many instances the 
rural school has lost ground, the attendance has dwindled 
until enthusiasm is gone, many classes have become one- 
pupil classes, games have lost their charm, the best teachers 
have been taken by town and city, and the community 
interest in the school has waned. Quite recently, however, 
a new interest in the rtiral school has sprung forth. It is 
probably talked of and thought about more to-day than 
any other educational factor. Teachers, statesmen, philan- 
thropists, and all sorts of writers are turning their attention 
to the rural school as the greatest factor in the rebuilding of 
country life. Yet all the laws, all the philanthropies, all the 
appropriations of money, all the enlargement of school 
houses and plants, can accomplish little without teachers 
prepared for the new order. The teacher is the heart of the 
problem. Teachers must equip for the new order, and must 
often be the missionaries to convert rural communities to a 
belief in the new education. 

The reorganization and redirection of the rural school. In 
all problems of social reform, the fundamental factor relied 
upon for the solution is education, properly directed. Social 
reformers have cried out against the slums, sweat shops, 
poverty, and degradation of our large cities. The isolation 



INTRODUCTION 7 

of the country, with its accompanying intellectual, aesthetic, 
social, and religious poverty, is a greater challenge to the 
reformer. How can education be reformed and properly 
directed to meet the conditions? There is no higher call for 
service than here. 

The problem of reorganizing and redirecting rural educa- 
tion is not a simple or an easy one. Those who would under- 
stand the problem must study it in its relations to the entire 
rural-life problem. The rural-life problem is largely a com- 
plex of social, industrial, religious, and educational needs. 
These needs have a historical development and a socio- 
logical setting which the rural teacher ought to understand. 
To meet these new social, industrial, religious, and educa- 
tional needs the rural school must redirect itself. In a new 
way it must minister to the needs of the people who live on 
the farm. While the teacher who would understand this 
new problem must read more than this one book, it will 
nevertheless be the aim of the author, in the pages which 
follow, to set forth some of the ways by which the rural 
teacher can organize and teach a better school, and become 
a more useful community servant. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What is meant by isolation of country life? 

2. What social gatherings of some years ago served to modify this isola- 
tion? 

3. Why are these no longer common? 

4. WhercLQ is the country school often less valuable socially than it was 
formerly? 

5. "VMiat improvements now help to modify rural isolation? ^ 

6. Wherein has city influence crippled country schools? 

7. What are some of the needs of rural schools to-day? 

8. Wherein should there be improvement in teachers for rural schools? 

SOME GOOD BOOKS FOR THE TEACHER 

Carney, Mabel. Rural Life and the Rural School. (Row, Peterson & Co.) 
A very helpful book for rural teachers. 



8 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Cubberley, E. P. Rural Life and Education. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 

An interesting and comprehensive presentation of the historical development and 
present status of the rural-life problem, and what are the rural-school needs of to-day. 
Good for individual reading or group study. 

Foght, H. The American Rural School. (The MacmUlan Company.) 
Hart, J. K. Educational Resources of Rural and Village Communities. (The 
Macmillan Company.) 

Kern, 0. J. Among Rural Schools. (Ginn &. Co.) 



CHAPTER II 

THE RURAL SCHOOL 
I. Its Function and Scope in General 

The school a specialized institution. A true democratic 
community demands that all children shall be initiated into 
the knowledge, culture, and experience which its people 
have acquired, and into activities which will make these 
children thrifty and good members of the community. The 
school is the institution especially developed by society to 
aid the family and the community in giving this education. 
It has had to take over from time to time certain things 
formerly attended to in the family or the community, but 
which, owing to changed conditions, must now be left to the 
school. In many other ways the field of the school is gradu- 
ally enlarging; but as its work increases in complexity, its 
origin should be kept in mind. It is an enlarged family and 
a miniature community with one central interest, the child, 
and its aim should be continually to supplement the family 
training and to introduce the child to the larger life of the 
community. 

Education for complete living. A modern behef is that 
through community activities we find the first approach 
for the child to the knowledge, culture, and experience of 
value. Books are necessary, but our school work has become 
too bookish. We must incorporate into our school practices 
some of the principles of modern definitions of education, 
an often quoted one of which is this from Herbert Spen- 
cer, " Education is preparation for complete living." He 
analyzed the activities of complete living as follows: — 



10 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

1. Activities centering about direct seK-preservation. 
These have to do with good health, or the bodily life in 
general. 

2. Activities connected with indirect self-preservation, 
getting food, clothing, shelter, gaining a livelihood. We may 
style this phase the industrial life. 

3. Activities relating to the care and culture of children: 
the educational life. 

4. Activities which pertain to the State and to the com- 
munity in living the life of a valuable, worthy citizen: the 
poHtical and social life. 

5. Activities associated with leisure, enjoyment, happiness 
in the recreational and aesthetic life. 

These will be more fully treated later on. In this con- 
nection it may be emphasized that the best preparation for 
life comes in the main through life's activities. We should 
not forget that thought arose out of activity and to guide 
activity, hence activities must be utilized as factors in 
developing the thinking powers of children. Our school 
work has placed the greatest stress upon the intellectual 
life, the acquisition of knowledge. Gradually the other 
phases of life are winning recognition, and just now we 
hear much discussion of vocational education. It remains 
to make place for this larger program in rural education 
and none of these phases of life should be neglected. 

Rare opportunity of rural schools. The "Back to the 
Country Movement," and the broader "Rural-Life Move- 
ment " of recent years, have alike centered attention on rural 
schools, and a new order of schools is coming into existence. 
In the educational reforms of centuries there has been 
nothing more inspiring than the new educational life now 
coming into many rural communities. This new life has 
found a quickening place in every State of the United States. 
It is at last dawning in public consciousness that the rural 



THE RURAL SCHOOL 11 

school offers probably the best opportunity in the world for 
an ideal school. Here community activities can be more 
readily utilized by the school than can be the case in cities. 
Here vocational education is simpler, and least in danger of 
creating caste, and country life is most natural and most 
independent. 

Man lived through the pastoral and agricultural stages 
before cities and machinery appeared on the earth, and in 
following the historical development of the race the child 
needs to participate in rural activities. These will not 
narrow his development as will a restriction to a trade 
education in the city. It would be a great reform in city 
education if transportation would carry city children far 
out in the suburbs to school plants with rural surroundings. 
And thus the rural school, the stone rejected by the build- 
ers, should become the chief corner-stone of the temple of 
education. 

Broadening view of the rural schooL While social and 
industrial conditions have been rapidly changing, while im- 
proved machinery, communications, and scientific farming 
have been recreating country life, and while the city schools 
have been making many progressive improvements, the 
riu'al schools have until recently made but little progress. 
It is now being reaUzed that the bare rudiments taught in 
the "little red schoolhouse" or the "old field school" are 
not sufficient, and that the riu'al school, as well as any other 
school, should have the ideal of complete living. A recon- 
structed school is demanded which will be adapted to rural 
life, and which shall be as complete and extensive of its 
kind as the city school is of its kind. It is wrong to have to 
send country children to the city for the best schools, either 
elementary or high schools. 



12 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

II. RuEAL Life Needs 

Even a hasty examination of the conditions surrounding 
life in the country reveals clearly certain fundamental needs 
if rural life is to be made satisfying to the type of young 
people we would like to retain on the farm. The following 
stand out clearly as of fundamental importance and are ones 
the teacher in a rural school should keep clearly in mind: — 

I. The bodily life. With all the advantages of the country 
it is noticeable that city youth often have the better physique 
and ease of motion. Neither are country people as free from 
sickness as we have expected of them. Typhoid and other 
fevers are common, and even tuberculosis claims nearly as 
high a percentage in country as in city. Indigestion and 
kindred evils are widely prevalent. Physical education is 
needed here as elsewhere. Good health is the first prerequi- 
site to a successful and a happy life. 

What are the new demands? — 

(1) Regular instruction should be given in hygiene, sani- 
tation, and physiology to all children, and this of a very 
practical type. 

(2) Especially should the girls be taught the scientific 
preparation of foods, what constitutes well-balanced meals, 
proper care of children and invalids, and home science in 
general. 

(3) The plays, games, and other physical exercises should 
be as carefully looked after as are the indoor studies. 

(4) There should be equipment for play and physical 
exercise, such as exercise bars, slides, hand swings, volley 
ball, tether ball, tennis, croquet, and many other playground 
necessities. These are necessities as much as are school 
desks. 

(5) A health inspector is needed for country schools as 
well as for city schools. It will be more difficult to secure 



THE RURAL SCHOOL 13 

one for country schools, and the teacher must assist greatly. 
The teacher can make some beginnings. There should be 
individual inspection of children, and records kept from 
year to year of each. Eyes, ears, teeth, nose, throat, chest 
expansion, position of shoulders, weight, and height should 
receive attention. The teacher should try to obtain a physi- 
cal estimate of the school, should aid in giving instruction 
looking to correction of defects, and thus assist every child 
to approximate the normal. 

2. The intellectual life. It has been well recognized that 
the school is to assist the child to acquire knowledge and to 
develop his intellectual capacities. The rural child needs 
the knowledge which will serve him in his rural environ- 
ment, and he needs to know broadly the world as his home. 
Books first, then magazines and newspapers, are intellectual 
tools he must learn to use and use well. Illiteracy is highest 
in the country, a condition to be corrected. Book study 
must go on in the conventional common-school branches, 
and the library must come in as another factor as necessary 
as textbooks. Active and abiding intellectual interests must 
be developed as the best safeguards against the narrowing 
tendencies of rm-al isolation. Apart from the maddening 
excitement of modern city life, genius can find itseK best in 
the reflective quiet of the country if opportunity is there. 
The public schools are accused of over-mechanization, too 
much routine, and other things deadening to originality. 
The freedom possible in rural education offers opportunities 
of highest value for individuality. 

3. The aesthetic life. Rural surroundings are full of 
beauty, yet few country people appreciate this as they 
should. Here the opportunity is great for development of 
appreciation of the birds, their colors, songs, ways, and 
values; of color in flowers, fields, and woods; of nature's 
various moods and adaptations. The study of pictures and 



14 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

literary classics opens additional avenues to the higher 
enjoyments. Beauty in household architecture and furnish- 
ings is a fruitful topic for study in connection with drawing 
and handicrafts. The beautifying of school grounds and 
houses with walks, flower beds, trees, pictures, etc., should 
be planned, and both children and older members of the 
community drawn into it. Interests and taste may be thus 
developed and transferred to the homes. 

Who has not noticed the plain, box-like appearance of so 
many country houses, without any attempt at symmetry or 
beauty, the yards barren, and probably the situation chosen 
at random when a much better one was near at hand — all 
bespeaking the lack of aesthetic values of life. Visiting a very 
large sanitarium for the insane in one of our States, the 
author was told that most of the women inmates were from 
the rural districts. The superintendent, quite an authority 
in his field, said that these unfortunates, isolated in farm 
homes, having sickness, troubles, and hard times, as most 
people do, yet lacking in any interests to take them away 
from themselves, brooded over their conditions until after 
a while their minds lost balance. Had they earlier in life 
developed an appreciation of values in nature, art, and liter- 
ature, these would have afforded refuge in the time of storm 
and stress. Surely the sesthetic should not be omitted from 
our rural educational values, and experience goes to show 
that this work needs to begin early in the school course. 

4. The industrial life. Manual training has found a place 
in modern school programs, its aim being the development 
of brain centers connected with hand activities. In addition 
it is being urged more and more that education should pre- 
pare each child for some vocation, and thus fit him for the 
struggle of earning a livelihood. Cities are organizing trade 
schools, industrial high schools, continuation schools, and 
other schools to make skilled workers in the vocations of 



THE RURAL SCHOOL 15 

these cities respectively. With this changing order in the 
cities and towns, it is a greater calamity than ever to send 
so many children from the country to the city schools for 
better education. Opportunity should be at their doors for 
education in the great vocations of the country. 

The industries of the farm can be more readily utilized in 
education than can most of those in cities. Agriculture is 
being put upon a scientij&c basis, and much is being done to 
interest both boys and girls in many of its activities. It has 
already been pointed out that these activities are in them- 
selves educative, that they are more fundamentally so than 
city activities, and that the business of farming is becoming 
one of the best. The rural children are entitled to receive 
the very best education to equip them to become skilled 
workers in their field of the world's work. 

5. The social life. Probably this should be divided into 
two parts and each treated separately — social life and 
political life. The first embraces life in the family, the 
neighborhood, and the community in the ordinary signifi- 
cance of the term "social." The second treats the child as 
the prospective citizen of a State or community, from the 
standpoint of law and order, in regulating the affairs of the 
community or State. Lidividuals do not exist outside of 
society, and every child should be taught his part as a valu- 
able member of his community. Then, too, there are social 
instincts which prompt people to seek in many ways the 
company of others. Plays and games recognize this. People 
like to come together in picnics, in lectures and entertain- 
ments, in mass meetings and political rallies, and in many 
other ways in which the school may aid. The school may 
again become the social center of the community, and cer- 
tainly it is in duty bound to do all in its power to train for 
good citizenship and to cultivate social traits which make 
for agreeable and lovable community members. The art of 



16 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

meeting people, of being gracious and companionable, in 
short the art of living together is the highest of arts. Social 
life in the country is often cited as a disadvantage, but it is 
capable of enrichment and improvement along many lines, 
and herein is a most important field for school endeavor. 

6. The moral and religious life. This topic probably should 
be treated as two separate ones. It is true that religion had 
its origin in ideas of the unknown and the supreme control 
of man's life and destiny, whilst morality had its origin in 
man's dealings with his fellow man. Still, morality and reli- 
gion have come closer together in our ideals of human per- 
fection, and each one supplements the other. We no longer 
sanction any immoral ceremonies or practices as religious, 
and religion offers the most effective reinforcement of moral- 
ity. No human life is complete without both. The moral 
and the religious nature distinguishes man as higher than 
other animals, and on this platform only has human society 
been possible. We therefore find herein the things of high- 
est importance both for the individual and society. Why 
should these things of highest value receive the least at- 
tention in our educational schemes? 

It has often been assumed that in the country children are 
free from temptations and are naturally better than urban 
children. Concrete studies have disclosed that the Devil 
has been just as busy in the country, that evil-mindedness 
has somehow crept in, and that other factors ruinous to 
character have been active in spite of the apparent isolation 
and immunity of country children. In a systematic way, 
moral education should receive attention throughout the 
school course, the materials and the presentation being 
adapted to the stage of development of the child; and all 
education may be fundamentally religious. 

Conclusion. The rural child must come into his inherit- 
ance. No equitable opportunity should be denied him, and 



THE RURAL SCHOOL 



17 



the best is none too good for him. The broader view of edu- 
cation is now the accepted ideal, and therefore we must 
find ways to encompass it. 

III. Types of Rural Schools 

The consolidated school. To carry on the manifold activi- 
ties of the rural school of the new order may seem impossible 
in one- teacher schools. The best solution proposed is to con- 
solidate several schools into one, and where distances are 




Fig. 1. A Type of the Consolidated School 

Central Consolidated School, Trumbull County, Ohio. This is a brick, steam- 
heated, slate-roofed building, which cost about $10,000. It has eight rooms and 
basement, and four acres of ground. It is located five miles from a railroad, and is 
the most conspicuous landmark of the region. High school, elementary school, and 
kindergarten are provided, and an annual lecture course and many community en- 
tertainments are held here. It is a community center for the township. (From 
Cubberley's Rurcd Life and Education.) 

thus greatly lengthened, transportation wagons may be 
furnished to convey children to and from school. Some 
advantages of the consolidated schools are the following: — 

1. A graded school made possible, which may extend through 
the high school. 

2. A division of labor among several teachers, hence more time 
given to respective subjects and better results. 



18 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

3. Specialization in teaching, giving better opportunity for the 
newer subjects and rural activities, and more highly skilled 
teaching in general. 

4. Teachers remain longer in position, giving needed continuity 
of work. 

5. Better school houses, grounds, and equipment. 

6. More regular attendance, and children remain in school a 
greater number of years. 

7. Greater enthusiasm in studies, plays, games, and all school 
activities. 

8. Children better protected going to and from school. 

9. Good supervision is made possible, including health super- 
vision. 

10. The school can be made a greater community center for 
educational gatherings, and other gatherings of people young 
and old. 

11. Often there is much waste in a one-teacher school of few 
pupils, perhaps many classes with one pupil each, yet the 
teacher must be paid, and the school plant maintained about 
the same as for thirty pupils. Consolidation saves this waste. 

Some people fight consolidation for fear that it will cost 
them more. In some cases, consolidation has saved waste 
until the cost was less for all the schools consolidated. In 
some cases it has cost slightly more. But in all cases, think 
how much more the children and the community are getting 
for the money. Farmers want the latest improved machinery 
because it is better. Why not better schools for the children 
as welLf^ 

In many instances only two schools have united, and in 
some States the new school is called a union school if made 
up of only two one-teacher schools, and a consolidated school 
if made up of three or more smaller schools. In one State 
such combined schools are called centralized schools. 

Progress of consolidation. In some cases transportation 
wagons are provided for the children, and in other cases 
each family manages for its own children. In some cases, 
the one-teacher schools are kept for the first five or six 



THE RURAL SCHOOL 19 

grades, and the older, more advanced children are sent to 
some central school for higher grades. Though as far back 
as about 1870 Massachusetts made provisions for trans- 
portation of pupils, and County Superintendent of Schools 
A. L. Wade, of Monongalia County, West Virginia, inaugu- 
rated a graduating system for country schools, bringing 
together several schools for commencement exercises and 
thus getting neighborhoods together for great educational 
rallies, yet the general movement over the country for con- 
solidated schools is quite recent; hence its many varieties 
worked out under varying conditions. Mississippi reports 
one county, which in 1912-13 replaced thirty-one schools 
with six consolidated schools. West Virginia reports ten 
schools of a mining section consolidated into one, with a new 
building strictly fireproof, mth glass roof, modern sanitary 
apparatus, and general equipment equal to that of the best 
city schools. 

The topography of the country, the condition of the roads, 
the density of the population, and, above all, the community 
spirit are factors determining the type of consolidation 
which should be undertaken. Sometimes only two schools 
can be united, but generally three or more are favorably 
connected for consolidation. 

The movement has spread until practically every State in 
the Union has consolidated some schools, and in some States 
wonderful progress in consolidation has been made. Yet 
our country people are conservative, and the old order will 
hold on with a strong grip. Teachers must be missionaries 
of the new gospel of the better rural school.^ 

The one-teacher school. Owing to sparsely settled re- 
gions, impossible roads, and slow-moving reforms, the one- 

* Rural Life and Education, by E. P. Cubberley (Houghton Mifflin 
Company), gives an excellent chapter on the needs for consolidation and 
the possibilities of the consolidated rural school. 



ga TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

teacher schools will exist in large numbers for many years to 
come. These, too, must be redirected, so as to enable them 
to accomplish much of the new order. Buildings must be 
added to and equipment furnished. The teacher must often 
begin in the one room, and arouse interest through the chil- 




FiG. 2. A Typical Rural School op the Better Class 

This is a good example of from one third to one half of the 212,000 rural schools 
in the United States. (From Cubberley's Rural Life and Education.) 

dren*s new work until better things are provided. Teachers 
must here be prepared to realize as fully as possible the 
broader view of the education for rural life. Some one- 
teacher schools have already done marvelous things in this 
direction. Nearly all depends on the teacher. We must not 
wait for consolidation to solve the problems, but begin with 
what may be accomplished at once, looking to the larger 
accompKshments as sure to come in time. 

Standard schools. To stimulate schools and communities 
to broaden and adapt their school work, and to improve 



THE RURAL SCHOOL 21 

their school buildings and equipment, state and county 
superintendents in many States have formulated standards 
for rural schools, and when any school fulfills the standard 
a certificate is given rating the school as "A Standard 
School." This has stimulated many communities and helped 
the teachers to better things. 

In the school laws of the State of Ohio we find these 
provisions: — 

One-Teacher Schools 

Each one-room school in any school district which shall fulfill 
the requirements of this section shall be considered a rural elemen- 
tary school of the first grade. Such requirements are as follows: — 

(a) Clean buildings and yard. 

(b) Building in good repair. 

(c) Separate screened privies for each sex, or inside toilets. 

(d) Maps of Ohio and United States. 

(e) Library of not less than fifty volumes. 

(/) One hundred square feet of slate or composition black- 
board; the lower margin, of not less than twelve lineal feet 
of which board, shall be within two feet of the floor. 

(g) A system of heating with ventilation — minimum, a jack- 
eted stove. 

(h) Buildings hereafter constructed to have in connection with 
them not less than one acre of land for organized play. 

(i) Teacher with at least a three-year certificate. 

(j) Agricultural apparatus to a value of at least fifteen dollars. 

Consolidated Schools 

Each consolidated school in any village or rural school district 
which shall fulfill the requirements of this section shall be con- 
sidered a consolidated elementary school of the first grade. Such 
requirements are as follows : — 

(a) Clean building and yard. 

(6) Building in good repair. 

(c) Separate privies screened for each sex, or inside toilets. 

(d) A case of not less than six maps, including a map of Ohio. 

(e) Library of not less than one hundred and fifty volumes. 



22 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

(/) One hundred feet of slate or composition blackboard; the 
lower margin, of not less than twelve lineal feet of which 
board, shall be within two feet of the floor. 

(g) A system of heating with ventilation — minimum, a jack- 
eted stove. 

{h) Buildings hereafter constructed to have at least three acres 
of land in connection with each school, one for agriculture 
and school garden purposes. 

{i) Three rooms and three teachers or more on full time, one 
teacher to have at least a three-year certificate. 

(j) A course in domestic science. 

(k) Two teachers to be employed for ten months each, one 
teaching agriculture during the school term and to supervise 
agriculture during part of the vacation. The other to teach 
domestic science during the school year and to supervise 
domestic science instruction during part of the vacation. 

(I) Agricultural and domestic science apparatus to the value of 
at least one hundred dollars. 

Added to these should be the items of pictures, trees, 
shrubbery, flowers, boys' and girls' clubs, and community 
programs. 

Superintendents arrange lists for their States, giving the 
items to be stressed under the important factors, buildings, 
grounds, equipment, teachers and teaching, discipline, boys' 
and girls' clubs, attendance, community gatherings, etc., 
these items varying as conditions of sections vary. Each 
item may be assigned a value of points, and the school which 
can score the required number of points will thus be adjudged 
a " Standard School." In some cases, additional items may 
be exhibited and a higher score made to give the school the 
honor of the title, " Superior School." 

The Missouri score card. In Missouri, as well as in a 
number of other States, a score card for scoring up rural 
schools has been devised which has rendered good service. 
Before being considered for approval the school must have 
complied with the following requirements : — 



THE RURAL SCHOOL 23 

(1) The term must be at least eight months in length. 

(2) The teacher must hold a certificate higher than a third grade 
county. 

(3) The salary paid the teacher must be at least forty dollars 
per month. 

(4) The board must have complied with the library law. 

(5) The state course of study must be followed. 

(6) The organization and classification of the school must be 
definite and systematic. 

(7) The instruction and discipline must be satisfactory. 

(8) The school buildings, grounds, and outbuildings must be 
adequate, cleanly, and sanitary. 

(9) The room must be heated by other means than radiation. 

(10) The teacher must be a regular attendant at county and 
township meetings. 

(11) A satisfactory program of recitation and study periods must 
be posted conspicuously. 

(12) A total credit of 80 points out of a possible 100 must be earned. 

After these conditions have been met the school will 
be visited and its condition, equipment, organization, and 
teacher scored, using the score card on page 24. 

The exact information as to state demands contained in 
these standards, and the emulation inspired, have led to the 
betterment of many rural schools. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Wherein has the country school unique advantages? 

2. Show wherein the rural school of a few years ago fell short of every 
one of the standards given under "Broadening View of the Rural 
School." 

3. What can the teacher do towards the betterment of rural schools? 

4. Under what conditions is a one-teacher school justifiable? 

5. Should a one-teacher school be a one-room school? 

6. Should a one-teacher school attempt high school subjects in addition 
to all the elementary grades? Should this be regulated by law? 

7. Explain the different types of consolidated schools. 

8. What are the advantages claimed for consolidation? 

9. On what grounds will some people oppose it? 

10. Work out the important items under each requirement given above 
in the Ohio law, and assign to each a relative number so that all the 
numbers add up 100. 



m 



TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 



11. Score up your school using the Missouri score card, and determine its 
rating. 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Carney, Mabel. Rural Life and the Rural School. (Row, Peterson & Co.) 
Cubberley, E. P. Rural Life and Education. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Dewey, John. Schools of To-morrow. (E. P. Dutton & Co.) 



Scale of points 



Condition of School Building — 20 points 

Outside, well painted, well preserved 

Inside, walls plastered, painted or papered, clean 

Light, windows arranged properly, and provided with shades 

Ventilation, provisions for lowering windows at top 

Floor, tight, smooth, and clean 

Heating, by good stove properly jacketed and located, or by furnace. 

Appaeatus and Equipment op Building — 17 points 

Blackboard, smooth surface of slate, liquid slating or painted board, 
easily reached by smallest pupil 

Desks, well preserved and well adapted to the sizes of the children. . 

Teacher's desk and chair, suitable to use 

Pictures, carefully chosen and arranged 

* Bookcase, well made, and provided with lock and key 

Maps of county. State, United States, and in good condition 

Globe, carefully selected, and in good condition 

Charts, adapted especially to beginning grades 

Library, books chosen so as to meet needs of pupils (at least a dic- 
tionary) 

Broom, erasers, individual drinking cups, etc., in good condition 



Ghounds and Outbuildings — 13 points 

Grounds, well-shaded, drained, fenced, good size, and neatly kept — 

Cistern, good walls and top, with pump and conveniently situated — 

Outbuildings, strongly built, properly situated, nicely painted, and 

well kept — 



Course of Study and Organization — 25 points 

Course of study, state and county followed 

Graduation, uniformity 

Number of recitations, not exceeding 24 

Quarterly and final examination questions used . . 

Agriculture taught in the higher grades 

Attendance, regular, and prompt 

Tardies, few or none 

System of records well kept and accurate 



Teacher, The— 25 points 

Certificate, second grade or higher 

Salary, $40 per month or more 

Associations, county, township and state attended regularly 

Instruction, careful and accurate 

Discipline, kind but firm 

Reading Circle, member of, for present year 

Reports to district clerk and county superintendent promptly made . 



Total points . 



Possible 
score 



CHAPTER m 
THE TEACHER 

The Rural-School Teacher 

For the changed conditions of rural life a new order of 
school is needed, and a new type of teacher is necessary for 
the new order. Too often the teacher of the rural school is a 
young person with city ideals and interests and not in touch 
with the rural needs, and again too often not qualified to 
introduce what rural life demands. It is not our disposition 
to criticize indiscriminately the rural teachers. Considering 
the short terms, low salaries, poor houses and equipment, 
and other discouraging features, the achievements of many 
rural teachers are to be highly commended. The drawbacks 
are such that only through heroic endeavor can they pre- 
pare for a new order, yet prepare they must, and the draw- 
backs must be removed as rapidly as possible. 

Teaching is a great profession. Dr. W. H. Payne has said, 
" Teaching is the noblest of the professions, but the sorriest 
of trades," Teachers must never fail to rise to the appre- 
ciation of the greatness of their vocation, even though the 
trade side of it is yet so sorry that remuneration is often 
lower than that of domestic or street laborers. Human life 
is the finest thing in the world, and he who is called to the 
training and development of human life has the highest 
calling in the world. Only those who can so appreciate the 
greatness of teaching should enter the profession. The 
many who enter without this appreciation have detracted 
from the professional aspects of teaching and have made it a 
sorry trade for temporary employment. 



26 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

In the making of the ideal teacher there are two sets of 
factors generally stressed: the first is natural equipment, the 
other is acquired preparation. 

I. Natural Equipment 

Teaching personality. The natural equipment of the 
teacher is sometimes treated under the term *' personality." 
This is an elusive term, which has been variously analyzed. 
In a study made by F. L. Clapp, of Illinois, cited in Bagley's 
School Discipline, the following are given as the prominent 
factors of teaching personality which found place in lists by 
one hundred forty school superintendents, giving what they 
considered the good qualities of their best teachers: — 

(fl) Address (f) Fairness 

(b) Personal appearance (g) Sincerity 

(c) Optimism (h) Sympathy 

(d) Reserve (z) Vitality 

(e) Enthusiasm (j) Scholarship 

In another study, made by Professor W. A. Cook of the 
University of Colorado, a number of superintendents and 
principals were asked to select teachers they would least 
like to lose, and then to indicate from one to three qualities 
which contributed to the efficiency of each teacher selected. 
A suggestive list of qualities was sent to the raters, who 
were asked to add to the list as they wished. Scholarship 
was not placed in the suggestive list because the study 
aimed at native rather than acquired traits. Following is a 
list of leading traits with the number of times each was 
mentioned: — 

Skill in instruction 88 

Ability to maintain discipline 71 

Sympathy and adaptability 58 

Energy 55 



THE TEACHER 27 

Interest in extra classroom activities 50 

Sense of humor 24 

Health 23 

Personal appearance 17 

These lists, taken together, should be very suggestive to 
teachers wishing to know what traits to cultivate. 

For those who still belong to the belated few relics of the 
past and who claim that the teaching personality is entirely 
inborn, this list is a study. Doubtless there are people who 
are irreclaimably deficient in one or many of these attributes, 
but the great majority are near enough to the normal to be 
able to improve themselves in every one of the commended 
traits. Young teachers, by persistent attention to these 
attributes, will soon note their own rapid improvement. 

Important teacher-qualities 

We offer a few comments on some personal teacher- 
qualities at least partly inborn. 

I. Good health, well preserved. Good bodily conditions 
are absolutely essential to the qualities of mind and char- 
acter necessary for wholesome teaching. Then the w^ork of 
teaching draws heavily on the nerve and vital forces. It has 
been estimated that the nerve energy used up per teacher- 
hour is twice that per hour of ordinary office work. In addi- 
tion to intellectual high tension, there is emotional strain 
due to the school government, with fear of unpleasant acts 
of children and parents. The strain is greatest on young 
teachers just beginning. After some years of service the 
nervous system of the teacher too often becomes a sign of 
his profession, such that he who runs may read. The teach- 
ing profession is no haven for delicate constitutions. The 
teacher should have a good body as initial capital, and its 
health should be daily guarded and conserved. 



28 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Fatigue is a warning which should always be heeded. 
Rest, recreation, and sleep should be daily considerations. 
The country has its risks in exposures, but it offers the 
wholesome outdoor life. The teacher should cultivate an 
excellent outdoor hobby, such as tennis, horseback riding, 
or some phase of nature study. 

The eyes are apt to be unduly exposed to light in the 
school room and overtaxed generally, hence these should be 
guarded. The voice too is in constant danger of becoming 
overstrained, high pitched, and harsh. Regular hours for 
eating and sleeping should be kept. For digestion's sake, a 
thermos bottle is a good thing to get for use with the lunch 
basket, when there is no domestic science equipment and 
no warm lunch provided at the school. The teacher's intelli- 
gence should be a constant sentinel, watching over the health 
and happiness endangered in the risks of the calling. 

2. Pleasing personality. A pleasing personaHty will con- 
tribute to schoolroom order and study, and to confidence in 
the teacher on the part of the pupils and members of the 
community. Neatness of dress, cheerfulness of disposition, 
and a friendly cordiality all contribute to this trait. Address, 
or the faculty of meeting people easily and pleasantly, 
should be cultivated. 

3. Imagination. A lively imagination, a sympathetic dis- 
position, and a fondness for children are essentials. A slug- 
gish imagination will make a dull teacher who can never 
build educative interests, and who should never be trusted 
with the work of the teacher. Imagination is the great ele- 
ment in sympathy, enabling one to put himseK in the place 
of another. Sympathy for all humanity, and especially for 
childhood, coupled with fondness for children, will unlock 
the hearts of pupils as nothing else will. Without these 
traits, a teacher becomes a murderer of childhood happiness. 

4. Appreciation of rural life. An appreciation of nature 



THE TEACHER 29 

and of rural life is necessary for the rural teacher. There 
should be full recognition of the possibilities of life in the 
country, and there should be genuine enthusiasm for the 
new gospel of rural life and rural education. These will cover 
a multitude of blunders and much of ignorance, if necessary. 
The way to this appreciation is both intellectual and emo- 
tional. Under the intellectual will come a study of rural 
problems and of the wealth of rural opportunity.^ Under 
the emotional will come the appreciation of the beauty of 
rural environment. An acquaintance with nature poetry 
will greatly help. A collection of such poems has been made 
by G. S. Bryan, 2 and another by B. F. Brown.^ Every riu-al 
teacher should study these, and read such books as John 
Burroughs's Birds and Bees, Sharp Eyes and Other Papers, 
and Wake Robin; also books by John Muir, Enos Mills, 
Riley, Thoreau, and other nature writers. Thus a genuine 
understanding and enthusiasm may be cultivated and en- 
hanced, and no teacher need to shrink from so delightful 
a task. Such an appreciation will help greatly even a city 
teacher. 

5. Character. Good moral character is an essential. The 
school from day to day and from month to month reflects 
the teacher in mood, order, and character. " As is the teacher 
so is the school." If the teacher is not truthful, honest, up- 
right, and religious, the negatives will reflect in his pupils. 
The character should be strong, not weak-willed and vacil- 
lating; modest, not conceited and overpretentious; unspoiled, 
not vain and wanting to be popular; industrious, not idle 

* The careful reading of Cubberley's R^iral Life and Education, which 
treats the rural-school problem as a phase of the larger rural-life, or of Miss 
Carney's Rural Life and the Rural School, will do much to develop an intel- 
ligent interest in rural life and education, 

2 Bryan, G. S., Poems of Country Life. (Sturgis & Walton.) 

3 Brown, B. F., Poems of Life in the Country and by the Sea. (B. F. Brown, 
Columbus, Ohio.) 



so TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

and lazy. In every respect the teacher's character should 
be an exemplary one. The true teacher is an inspirer unto 
truth and an interpreter of life; one who shows the way as 
did the Great Teacher. The true teacher is also possessed 
of the missionary spirit to carry the gospel of education to 
the needy anywhere at almost any personal sacrifice. This 
applies especially to the teacher in the rural schools. 

6. Other qualities. Corollaries of truth as a quality are 
justice, fairness, common sense, candor, straightforward- 
ness, and purity. The teacher of course must be just and 
fair in all dealings with pupils, fair in discipline, in marking 
and in opportunity. Partiality breeds disrespect. A teacher 
who is vain and too lenient in trying thus to court favor, 
generally produces the opposite of the desired effect, just as 
over-severity is also quickly condemned as unjust. 

Opposite qualities to be avoided are sarcasm, ridicule, 
nagging, fault-finding, harshness, unreasonable strictness, 
and uncontrolled temper. "Whoever offends the least of 
these has committed a great offense against Him." There 
must be no great gulf between teacher and pupil. They 
should be on familiar and respectful footing with each other, 
creating a sweet interdependence. 

II. Preparation 

The teacher's preparation is generally analyzed into schol- 
astic and professional factors. 

I. Scholastic preparation. In the realms of knowledge 
which must be taught, the teacher should be a genuine 
scholar. He should be familiar with all the ordinary school 
subjects, and much correlative matter. To teach reading 
well, one must know and appreciate much of the literature 
of the world. And thus in every field the teacher's knowl- 
edge should be wider than the bare school subjects to be 



THE TEACHER 31 

taught. To teach a rural elementary school, one should 
at least be familiar with what should be included in a good 
rural high school. To teach in a high school, one should 
have the equivalent of a college course for graduation in the 
subjects taught, and related subjects. Some States already 
demand more than this, and no State should accept less 
except in an emergency. 

Scholarship must be stressed as the first essential in prepa- 
ration, and this must include the needed famiharity with 
subjects of special value to the rural schools, especially such 
subjects as agriculture in its various phases, rural sociology, 
rural economics, home science, and handicrafts. In the one- 
teacher school the teacher must have to handle all of these. 
In the consolidated school teachers may have specialties, 
yet all should possess the fundamentals necessary to the 
proper perspective and to correlations in the rural curricu- 
lum. A teacher without a knowledge of elementary agricul- 
ture, home economics, rural life problems, and without an 
appreciation of rural life and values, will be a misfit in a 
rural consolidated school even as a teacher of mathematics 
or history or literature, for there are rural appHcations and 
rural values in all of these subjects. Still more will such a 
teacher be a misfit in a rural one-teacher school. 

2. Professional preparation. Though scholarship in the 
subjects to be taught is stressed as the first essential, the 
modern teacher should be more than a retailer of second- 
hand academic courses; he must be a thinker in his own 
field. There has been a world-wide growth of a professional 
consciousness and the recognition of a special field of schol- 
arship and research calling for an independent profession of 
education. The center of this field is Child Psychology, 
which concerns itseK with the periods of growth and devel- 
opment in children's life and experience, the measures for 
the most prudent direction of this development, the mate- 



32 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

rials to be used, the social conditions in which the child is 
growing up after a while to fill his place in advancing the 
material and the spiritual progress of the race, — all of 
which lead into a profession the adequate mastery of which 
is as difficult as the task before the student of medicine or 
law. 

The teacher's psychology has become genetic psychology, 
and by the side of this must be placed a child physiology 
and school hygiene. Sociology and ethics deal with the 
society in which the child is to be adapted. Education must 
consider the community, the larger neighborhood, and the 
whole State. All of these govern in the choice of material 
and the methods of presentation, — another field of study. 
Then there is the field of school management, organization, 
and the administrative aspects of education. Finally there 
are lessons to learn from the education of man as a historical 
development. Child study, or genetic psychology, social 
psychology, educational sociology, selection of material for 
the courses of study, method in teaching, and the history of 
our educational development, all enter into a professional 
course of study for the teacher. Skill must be added to pro- 
fessional knowledge to make the valuable teacher. Some- 
thing of skill may be acquired in advance in a practice 
school, where expert supervision and advice may go far in 
directing experience on the right road, for not all experience 
adds to the teacher's value, since experience may crystallize 
bad habits and practices beyond reclaim. 

For the elementary schools, the teacher should have the 
scholarship equivalent of that of a high school graduate, 
and, in addition, the professional courses of a good normal 
school. 

For the high schools, the teacher should have the scholar- 
ship previously outlined — the equivalent of the require- 
ments for a bachelor's degree in a good standard college or 



THE TEACHER 33 

university, and at least twenty per cent of these require- 
ments should be elected in the School or College of Educa- 
tion. In California the requirements for the highest pro- 
fessional certiJScate demand a year of graduate work in 
addition to the above. 

3. EflSciency maintained. Having fairly well prepared 
and entered the great work of the teacher, one cannot rest 
here. Education is necessarily a changing, progressive 
process, or else it fails to serve its time, all because civiliza- 
tion is a changing order. Education must fit for the life of 
to-day, yet it must anticipate to-morrow. This means that 
the teacher must be progressive. New work must be taken 
up by the school, new views must be sought of the old work, 
new and old must be correlated. We commend a saying of a 
great teacher, Matthew Arnold: " I would rather my pupils 
would drink from a fresh running fountain than from a dead 
stagnant pool.** 

4. The teacher in service. Happy should be the teacher 
always so well equipped. But probably the large majority 
of rural teachers are not so well prepared. These should not 
be discom-aged. If the high-school, normal-school, or college 
education has not been their fortune, they can, by due dili- 
gence, prepare through summer schools and reading courses. 
These are becoming more and more efficient, and their aim 
is to assist teachers already in service to make up deficien- 
cies, or to prepare for new subjects and to keep abreast of 
the times. Rural supervisors are increasing in number, rural 
superintendents are improving in quality, and all of these 
are helping in the improvement of rural teachers. Publishers 
advertise many helps for teachers, and never before have 
opportunities been so great for full preparation. 

Governments are trying to eliminate unskilled labor in all 
industrial pursuits. A teacher lacking sufficient scholarship 
or professional preparation is like unto an unskilled laborer 



34 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

whose work is to shape human lives. In all the world's work, 
is there anything which should call for more extended prepa- 
ration or higher efficiency than the work of a builder of 
human life? There might justly be a legal inscription over 
every schoolroom door: "Let no one ignorant of his profes- 
sion enter as master here." 



Teachers' salaries 

It has been set forth that a fundamental need in rural 
education is the consolidation of schools. But people have 
to be converted to this change, and the chief factor in this 
conversion must often be the teacher. Given the consolida- 
tion and still the schools would fail to readjust to rural needs 
if teachers remain unprepared for rural schools. It seems 
that the greatest need of country schools is a supply of 
teachers specially trained and equipped for rural service. 

However, good teachers will prepare for this high calling 
in sufficient numbers only when the proper remuneration is 
provided. This remuneration should be such as to encourage 
talented men and women to prepare well and to enter upon 
teaching as a life's profession. It would seem that teaching 
in rural schools should bring larger salaries than in city 
schools. Then we can expect to hold good teachers in the 
country, and can hope for a redirection of the rural school 
for the best interests of rural life. Still, the beginning of the 
solution must be in the better preparation of teachers. Many 
taxpayers must be assured of better teachers if they are to 
vote larger salaries. The sacrifice must come from the 
teacher wilHng to prepare and trust to a progressive age to 
provide better remuneration for the professional teacher 
than for the unprepared one. Some cities now base salary 
increase in part on the completion of certain teachers' 
courses in summer schools. Some school boards permit sala- 



THE TEACHER S5 

Ties for days spent in the institute and the teachers asso- 
ciation. Some authorities are paying teachers for twelve 
months of the year. These are hopeful signs. Teachers must, 
through proper preparation and progress, and then through 
education of the public up to the proper appreciation of the 
same, gradually bring about the desired reforms. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. How may experience be to the detriment of a teacher? 

2. How does the quotation from Matthew Arnold apply to a teacher's 
daily preparation? General preparation? 

S. Wherein are difficulties in the way of finished preparation to teach? 

4. Wherein are difficulties in the way of increase of salaries? 

5. Give reasons why rural salaries should be higher than city salaries? 
Why are they lower? 

6. What are the services a summer school can render a teacher who 
started in with a good preparation? One who started with poor 
preparation? 

7. What professional similarities between the teacher and the physician? 

8. What are the different ways of getting into a profession? Why require 
license? 

9. What are some natural traits which should debar a person from 
teaching? 

10. Discuss the old-time dictum, "Teachers are born, not made." 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Cubberley, E. P. Rural Life and Education. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Chapter XII, on "A New Teacher," forms good supplemental reading. 

Home, H. H. The Teacher as Artist. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Page, David. Theory and Practice of Teaching. (American Book Company.) 
An educational classic which eloquently dignifies the teacher and the profession. 

Bailey, Outlook to Nature. (The Macmillan Company.) 
Bryan, G. S. Poems of Country Life. (Sturgis & Walton.) 



CHAPTER IV 

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 

Education begins before the child enters school, and it 
continues after school days have passed. There are many of 
life's activities of play, pleasure, and industry continually 
at work for education. But the school is the only institution 
whose direct purpose is education. All other agencies exist 
for some other main purpose and are only incidentally edu- 
cational. It falls to the school to be the chief organizer of 
educational agencies. The teacher must become an organ- 
izer of the ordinary work of the school, and also, in part, of 
many outside activities related to the school. 

Probably the school plant should first receive attention, 
and a brief of the essentials of a modern plant are here given, 
preceding the discussion of the teacher's part in its organiza- 
tion each year. 

I. The School Plant 

The school plant as a rule is determined by the commu- 
nity, and the teacher may not have had any voice in creat- 
ing it. However, there will always be opportunities arising 
where the teacher may be influential for great good. A new 
plant may be possible, as in case of consolidation, or the old 
plant may be enlarged. The teacher should embrace every 
opportunity for betterment of the school plant. 

The school grounds. The grounds should always be 
spacious to permit a yard in front for ornamentation, and 
one in the rear and side for playground. Where possible 
there should be space for a garden. In the case of a one- 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 



37 



teacher school this would call for a minimum of two acres, 
while from three to five acres are desirable. For a consoli- 
dated school, including the elementary and the high school 
of eleven or twelve grades, there should be twenty-five acres 
or more. Five acres should be considered a minimum, but 
the ideal calls for a small farm and a home for the principal. 

A neat fence should enclose the ground, and separate cer- 
tain portions for exclusive use of boys and of girls. Good 
hedge fences may serve for divisions. The girls should have 
ground for some exclusive 
games, and the boys also 
should have their territory, 
yet there should be space 
for games including both 
boys and girls. Grounds for 
volley ball, croquet, and 
basket ball are suggested 
for girls, and a ball field 
surrounded by a team track 
for boys. The smaller chil- 
dren should have ground 
and apparatus suited to 
their needs. Grounds for 
planting and for keeping 
pets also are desirable. 

The schoolhouse. The 
one-teacher school should 
have more than one room. 
There should be a cloak- 
room for boys and one for girls. There should be a main 
schoolroom for general work, and an adjoining room which 
may be used for home economics and for primary classes. 
A workshop is needed for manual training and a small room 
or alcove for a library, though the latter may be provided 



imm 



Fig. 3. A Typical Present-Day 

Interior 

(From Cubberley's Rural Life and 
Education.) 



38 



TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 





an nn 

□ DD an 

□ an □□ 

□ n □ □□ 

□ an □□ 

□ □ □□□ 



for in one corner of the main room. Where a new building 
is to be built, the teacher should urge the plan for a com- 
plete plant. If the school is a consolidated one, rooms 
for all the necessary school activities should be provided. 

Schoolhouses should 
be planned with as 
great care as are 
dwelling-houses. It is 
too often the case that 
rural schoolhouses 
have been built with 
almost no considera- 
tion of the real prob- 
lems of education. 

In some cases 
houses have been 
built with a service- 
able basement, and 
a second-story room. 
In the basement are 
the heater and a 
workshop equipment, 
and sometimes indoor 
play space for rainy 
weather. When a wa- 
ter system can be had, 
indoor toilets should 
be provided, and these may be in the basement or in con- 
nection with the cloak-rooms. In general it is not advisable 
to have play-rooms in the basement without sufficient light 
and ventilation. Much better is it to have a large play-shed 
in the yard. 

Windows should be arranged so that the light comes from 
the left of the pupils, never from the right or the front. If 



l ll ll Ml l| || 

I DeBkJ 
C7 



Fig. 4. A Reahbanged Interior 

Remodeled along good educational and hygienic lines, 
and new equipment and some conveniences added. The 
three windows on the left have been made into doors, 
and the frames and sashes moved to the right side. 
Compare with Fig. 2. 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 39 

light comes from the rear it should come from high windows, 
so as not to cast body shadows on the desks. Shades of good 
quahty and green or oUve in color should be adjusted to fit 
the windows and to be lowered from the top or raised from 
the bottom. The light should be very carefully regulated, 
so that shadows do not faU on the books or work of the 
pupils, nor bright light injin-e the eyes of pupils or teacher. 

Heating and ventilation. Heating and ventilation should 
also be provided for in accordance with some modern sys- 
tem. The old-fashioned stove in the center of the room is 
a condemned system. If only a stove can be had, better a 
jacketed one equipped for ventilation, for it is as important 
to extract the impure air as it is to take in fresh air. Several 
regular heaters for such purposes have been devised, and 
these are rapidly going into schoolrooms where steam or 
hot-water systems are not available. These are not expen- 
sive and can be adjusted to any rural schoolhouse. The 
health of school-children demands the proper heating and 
ventilation, and no good work can be done under improper 
conditions of the same. Pure air is an essential to human 
life. Headaches, inattention, poor memory, and apparent 
stupidity in pupils are often due to faulty ventilation of the 
room. 

The very best results are now being secured in oi>en-air 
schools, and the attention of the world is turning in that 
direction. Rural schools might have movable equipment 
to shift readily to practicable outdoor places in favorable 
weather. 

The water supply. The open bucket and common drink- 
ing-cup have also been condemned as menaces to public 
health. Water is a chief agent in transmitting disease germs, 
and no school authorities can be excused for not heeding the 
teachings of modern science on this point. Open wells or 
cisterns and springs should be avoided, and some type of 




°Qon°n°n°n°D°[] 
°[]°n°D°n°n°n°n 
°D°n°D°n°n°n°n 

oD°n°D°n°Q°D°a 



Entiy 



n □ 



m:-r^-.p 




Geound Flooe Plah 




Basement EeSs 



Fig. 5. A Model Interior for a One-Teacher 
Rural Schoolhouse 

Still another and a better plan would be to use the attic for manual 
training and domestic science and the basement for an indoors play- 
room. A curtain or a slatted door can be used to close off the plant- 
room, if the light is too bright. The water-pressure tank provides 
water for the toilets, lavatories, and drinking-fountains found in the 
lavatory-rooma. (From Cubberley's Rural Life and Education.) 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 



41 



bubbling fountains should be provided. There are several 
of these, some so simple as to be attached to an ordinary 
water-cooler. Any county superintendent can furnish infor- 
mation about these. The best system is one of a more 













/ Library 








1 








^1 

Platform 


























1 


D 




Uaeater 

Fuel 
Room 




























/\ Boys' Coat 
<^N\ itoom 




.. ., yy^ 


"Work Room 


\ 

Girls' Cloak 
Room 


Porch 








==^ 


^ 


J 




^ 



Fig. 6. A Well-arranged Rural Schoolhouse 

Designed by the faculty and students of the State Normal School at Emporia, 
Kansas; cost, about $1800 to $2000. For a total cost of from $2500 to $3000, a base- 
ment can be put under the entire building, to contain a furnace, fuel-room, pump, 
pressure-tank for running water, gasoline engine, and play-room for rainy days, and 
closets, lavatories, and a drinking-fountain installed in the coat-rooms above. 



permanent nature, consisting of a pressure tank and force 
pump connected with a well or cistern, and this will supply 
a bubbling fixture for one or more schoolrooms. 

Blackboards. There should be blackboards in all available 
spaces around the walls. These should be about forty inches 
wide, the lower edges bounded by chalk troughs three feet 
from the floor. About ten or twelve feet of this board should 



m TEACmNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

extend as low as two feet from the floor, so that the small 
children may use it. Where this has not been so built, a 
step platform may be made about a foot high for small chil- 




Agriculture 



m 



DmnnmmD 
DmmmcDD 
ommmmn 
DmmmmD 



loilet I / ^ j Toilet 



^-i^l 



Fig. 7. The Model Rural School at Matvillb, 
North Dakota 

The especial feature here is the arrangement of the main floor. 
The basement, to which the stairs lead, is used for furnace, play- 
room, and water storage for the school. This school would nat- 
urally cost more to build than the Emporia school, but it is a 
much better type. In such a school the best of a modern rural 
curriculum can be taught. 



dren to stand upon so as to reach the boards. One or two 
small boards extending above these regular boards, in con- 
venient spaces, would serve to put up the schedule or any 
work to remain some time without being in the way. The 



ORGANIZATION AND IVIANAGEMENT 43 

best color for these boards is green, since this color is restful 
to the eyes, and it shows the chalk-marks as distinctly as 
does black. 

School desks. There has been great improvement in 
school desks also, yet rural-school surveys show an aston- 
ishing number of the old-time long benches still in use. 
Patent desks are made in sizes adapted to various ages, and 
some of these adjustable so that the seat may be raised or 
lowered and the desk-top set in or out. If patent desks are 
to be bought, it will be better to get adjustable ones. Bad 
postures of school-children, and long, tiresome hours of 





Fig. 8. Desk too High, and the Result 
(From Terman's The Hygiene of the School Child.) 

sitting, are responsible for many after evils, such as spinal 
curvature. The school should conserve and develop every 
child for the best possible life, and surely physical growth 
should not be thwarted for small economy of any kind. 

For rural schools the very best plan is to use small tables 
and chairs for the younger children of probably the two low- 
est grades, and special school chairs for the older children. 
These special chairs are made with a drawer under the seat 
of each to hold books, and with various devices for writing 
surfaces. Chairs are more comfortable, and can be quickly 
rearranged or removed for special occasions. 



44 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

There should be a teacher's desk, with several drawers to 
lock securely. When there are two or more grades or groups 
in a room, recitation benches should be conveniently placed 
for blackboard and other conveniences, so that a portion of 
the children may recite without disturbing the study or desk 
work of others. Chairs may serve even better for recitation 
purposes. There should be a chair for the teacher, extra 
chairs for visitors, and a desk or table for the dictionary and 
reference books. 

Other equipment. Every school should have a good 
library in bookcases which may be securely locked, a large 
globe and a small one, sets of wall maps, a sand-modeling 
table, a clock, a bell, and all needed tools and buckets for 
caring for heating, lighting, ventilating, and cleaning the 
buildings; also some tools for yard and grounds. There 
should be convenient arrangements for bathing hands and 
faces, and a supply of rolls of paper towels so as to avoid the 
common towel, which is another condenmed article. If flies 
and mosquitoes are troublesome, window and door screens 
should be used. Cloth netting may be tacked over the win- 
dows when wire is not available. 

There should be wires along the walls at convenient places 
for hanging specimens of best work. Picture moulding is 
another need for convenient hanging of pictures, and a few 
copies of choice pictures should adorn the walls of every 
school. These pictures should represent the best available 
in the world of art. A small pair of balance scales, with 
scoops and several weights; measures of various capacities, 
haK pint, pint, quart, gallon, peck, and half bushel; footrules 
and yardsticks and other measures for use in arithmetic; 
clock dials, tin money, are all essential. Doubtless there 
should be other equipment good teachers will need, and yet 
there are many schools without the first essentials of a 
modern school plant. 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 45 

II. Organizing the Plant 

Before the opening day. The teacher should visit the 
school-building some days before the opening day to inspect 
it, with its grounds and equipment. The following items 
should be noted: the grounds as to cleaning and arrange- 
ment; the repairs needed for fences and other outbuildings; 
the provisions for wood and coal; the water supply; rooms 
and hooks for hats, coats, and lunch baskets; the condition 
andarrangement of seats; the blackboard, erasers, and chalk; 
the bookcases, dictionary, and other books; the condition 
and adjustability of windows and blinds; the pictures, wire 
hangers for school work, and other needed things. The 
schoolroom may need scrubbing, windows and walls need 
cleaning, desks and woodwork some painting, and grounds 
a clearing and laying off for play and beautification. If a 
consolidated school, the teacher should give a memorandum 
of needs to the principal, who is directly responsible to the 
trustees. All the teachers of the consolidated school should 
meet at the call of the principal to discuss the needs and the 
preliminaries of organization, then all should cooperate in 
securing community assistance. If it is a one-teacher school, 
the teacher should give the memorandum of needs to the 
chief trustee, should agree with him on a community meet- 
ing on some date to have a school cleaning-up and equipment 
day, and cooperate with him in inviting people out so as to 
interest them in this preliminary work. Women may aid in 
cleaning up, making shades, and equipping for home science. 
The teacher must be the moving spirit in all this. Country 
people are often indifferent through custom, but when 
thoroughly aroused they become gTcatly interested, and 
such a preliminary day would prove a welcome diversion for 
many. There will be an immense gain if community help 
and interest can thus be organized from the beginning. 



46 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Assistance of pupils. When it is not practicable to get the 
community or some of its people for this, the trustees should 
be induced to make certain repairs and furnish supplies, 
and the teacher should organize the pupils to continue the 
work. In any event the larger boys should be enlisted to 
build a large play-shed for use in bad weather, and gradu- 
ally to add to the playground equipment. They can build 
posts for basket-ball and volley-ball, make horses for hurdle 
races, put up horizontal bars and swinging-rings for exer- 
cise, and make arrangements for high jumping. Tools may 
be borrowed from home, and material secured through 
trustees, through donations, and through special pay enter- 
tainments. All this may be made most valuable work in 
manual training. A community carpenter may be interested 
in helping with a large undertaking, such as framing the 
play-shed or an additional room to the schoolhouse, the 
work to be finished by the boys. The girls can make tennis, 
volley-ball, and croquet grounds, improve the walks, set out 
shrubbery, and make flower plots. Around the school plant 
and its equipment the boys and girls should be organized 
into a community of common interest and endeavor, every 
one contributing to the welfare and happiness of all. The 
teacher should keep in mind that all this is vitally educative, 
not merely a side issue. 

Preliminary pupil organization. The register, class-book, 
and other records of the school for the preceding year should 
be secured. If the school is a consolidated one, these records 
should be secured for the children likely to come to the 
teacher for the first time. If the teachers have special sub- 
jects, under a departmental plan, each should carefully note 
the record of work done by pupils in other subjects. The 
superintendent or principal should furnish the record books 
and blanks, and when giving these out to teachers this 
officer should supply them with preceding records, all to be 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 47 

returned with the closing report at the end of the session, 
the final salary payment to be conditioned upon the faithful 
keeping and returning of all required records. 

Especially if the teacher is going to a school for the first 
time will it be very helpful to talk it over with the preceding 
teacher. And it will be very considerate and well-bred of the 
preceding teacher, when practicable, to communicate with 
the new teacher to assist in arranging a conference. 

With such preliminary records on hand, the teacher should 
plan work for each child and each class, beginning with the 
very first day. In general, the work for the session should be 
planned, subject to necessary adjustment. For practically 
every State there is a state course of study and teacher's 
manual prepared by the state superintendent of schools. 
This should be secured and followed as faithfully as prac- 
ticable. It will serve ^ as a good guide in subjects and 
methods. 

Classifying and seating. The preliminary information 
should be a guide to the teacher in arranging school desks 
and recitation seats for the first day. Where additional 
desks and rearrangements are needed it will contribute 
greatly to have these attended to before the first day. The 
teacher then may have a roll ready for the first day, may 
check this up and correct it in a few minutes after the general 
opening program, may assign seats to each child in accord- 
ance with the general plan for all, may assign lessons for the 
day, and start everybody at work regularly and so promptly 
as to create an excellent impression. 

It is highly important that the teacher assign seats. This 
may be done in the beginning without apparent suspicion, 
and may have great influence on future discipline. Some 
pupils may demur, but the teacher should be good-naturedly 
firm, expressing the intention of making changes as needed. 
Troublesome children will flock together unless the teacher 



48 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

is skillful in arranging them. A diagram of seats assigned 
will help the teacher to learn the children at sight. The 
desks or chairs should be arranged so that those of the same 
size are together, not a small size in front of a large one. The 
smaller children should be kept in the most comfortable 
part of the room. In the rural school the greater part of the 
school day is spent at the desks, hence great care and much 
thought should be given to the seating of the pupils. Some 
good book on " School Hygiene " should be read for further 
guidance. 

III. Organizing the Work of the School 

The course of study. It seems that many difficulties are 
presented in the needs of the school plant, its grounds, build- 
ings, and equipment, yet difficulties fairly bristle around the 
course of study and the schedule of work. Reorganization 
so as to include different studies and activities, and redirec- 
tion of the old studies are both demanded. In Chapter II, 
under the topic, "Broadening View of the Rural School," 
various types of life's interests were presented for representa- 
tion in the work of the school. These were the physical, the 
intellectual, the sesthetic, the industrial, the social, and the 
moral and religious. In organizing the course of study these 
interests should find place; none should be neglected. In 
the old school, the work narrowed down to a smattering of 
the intellectual, and the majority of rural schools are still 
working within these narrow limits. The present age is 
calling for the broadened work. The activities and needs of 
rural life must shape the work of the country school. The 
course of study and the daily schedule must be made with 
these in mind. 

Reading must be stressed in the new order as in the old, 
for reading is the doorway to past knowledge, and it is one 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 49 

of the most useful accomplishments. Writing will figure in 
the new about as in the old. Spelling is all-important, yet a 
more rational list of words is being worked out. It is claimed 
that time is wasted in learning many useless words. Arith- 
metic also is a fundamental, but here time has been wasted 
on unnecessary things. The simpler essentials are to be 
selected, and more applications made in farm-life arithmetic. 
History and geography must be retained, but these must be 
adapted to rural needs and taught so as not to be so barren 
and wasteful. Language and grammar are old friends to be 
retained, but much more attention should be given to lan- 
guage and much less to technical grammar. Hygiene, litera- 
ture, art, agriculture, domestic science, handicrafts, and the 
social and moral life must find larger place. The how of all 
this presents a great difficulty. 

Possible reorganizations of the school. Another diffi- 
culty appears in a scheme of classes and years. The grouping 
which somehow came to be accepted in most schools is one 
assigning eight years, or grades, to the elementary school, 
four years to high school, and four years to college. This is 
an unnatural grouping. The work of the elementary school 
is not suited to the child in the seventh and eighth grades. 
The beginning of adolescence has set in then, and new in- 
terests must be met. Under this old system, children drop 
out of school too rapidly from these upper elementary grades. 

One proposed solution is to divide these grades so that the 
high school shall begin with the seventh, thus making the 
plan six and six. This has many advantages over the eight 
and four plan, and the underlying principle is partly dis- 
cussed under periods of child development, in a following 
chapter. 

Another solution has been already put into practice in 
many States, in Kansas City, in the University of Chicago 
elementary school, and in other places. Owing to the too 



50 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

great length of the elementary school and the barrenness of 
the eighth grade, this grade has been discarded, and the 
elementary school has only seven grades. This gives a seven- 
four arrangement, which is working quite satisfactorily, 
with a year gained for the child. A better arrangement 
under this plan is a six-five grouping, six years for the ele- 
mentary school, G.ve for the high school. Then, when two 
more years can be added, these will be Junior College years. 
This grouping works out as follows: — 

Elementary school, first six grades. 

Junior high school, grades 7, 8, and 9. 

Senior high school, grades 10 and 11 (or 10, 11, and 12). 

Junior college, grades 12 and 13 (or 13 and 14). 

Above these would be the senior college or university. 

Either solution is better for rural schools than the old 
grouping. In the one-teacher school, even six grades are too 
many, and no more should be assigned to one teacher. If 
the seventh grade is transferred to the high school, studies 
better suited to the interests of the children may be taken 
up, and not so many will then drop out of school here. The 
plan is flexible for any type of consolidation. The central 
school in a group of three or more rural schools may add 
extra rooms, take on other teachers, and develop a junior 
high school, if not further. After the sixth grade, the pupils 
from the other schools should attend the junior high school, 
and, when possible, after this the senior high school and 
college most available. 

Alternation of classes. The daily schedule will be different 
for each of these groupings, depending upon whether the 
teacher must plan for only six grades, or for seven or eight 
grades. The schedule difficulties are less in a consolidated 
school. 

In the best high schools, the class recitation periods are 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 51 

forty-five minutes long. In many rural schools the periods 
are only five to fifteen minutes long, with nearly thirty or 
more recitations each day. If rural schools would combine 
so as to give not more than two grades to a teacher, great 
advantages to the children would ensue. 

The making of a schedule for a rural school so as to intro- 
duce the new subjects, and to include all of the elementary 
grades, is quite a problem. Where consolidation does not 
help out, various devices must be resorted to, the chief of 
which is alternation of classes. If planning for only six 
grades, the fifth and sixth may be classed together in arith- 
metic, history, geography, reading, etc. One year they take 
the work of one grade, the next year the work of the other 
grade, so planned that either may be taken first. In some 
things the third and fourth grades can work together by 
alternation. If there are seven grades, the sixth and seventh 
may combine, also the fourth and fifth in part. If there are 
eight grades, the combinations would be the seventh with 
the eighth, and the fifth with the sixth. 

In arithmetic, after pupils learn the fundamentals in 
addition, subtraction, multiphcation, division, and simple 
fractions, one year's work may cover denominate numbers 
and mensuration, another year percentage and interest. 
Either year could be taken first. In advanced history or 
geography, the book may be divided into halves, and either 
half taken first. In reading and literature, spelling, agricul- 
ture, domestic science, etc., the work may be similarly 
planned. This will reduce the number of classes, and give 
longer time to each class. 

In every State there is some official course of study, gen- 
erally planned by the state superintendent and his helpers. 
A State Manual outlines the course for teachers, and often 
supplies suggestive programs. The teacher can follow 
approximately the course prescribed, and yet apply the 



52 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

above principle of alternation. Ohio's State Course of Study 
(1915), says: — 

This course has been so planned that the seventh and eighth 
years* work can be alternated in everything except grammar; the 
fifth and sixth grades can be alternated in everything; the third 
and fourth can be alternated in all except arithmetic; and the first 
and second years' work can be alternated in language and nature 
study. 

The Michigan Course of Study (1914) says that the sev- 
enth and eighth grade grammar may alternate, it being 
immaterial whether syntax or etymology is taught first. 

Alternation has been thoroughly tested and approved, it 
being a practice in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, 
Massachusetts, and many other States. It should be used 
to reduce the number of classes to the least, except that it 
should not be used where it makes classes too large. Every 
rural teacher should study plans for using it in the making 
of the program. 

The "Suggestive Program" shown on page 53 is too 
crowded, and it clearly shows that more teachers are needed 
for so many grades. The schedule should provide for longer 
periods, and should have five minutes, midway in each of 
the four parts of the school day, for a rest or informal 
period in which pupils may move about and whisper, get 
a drink of water, air the room, and do other such things 
without disturbance. 

Using older pupils as teacher-assistants. Nearly always 
there will be some older pupils who can be quickly shown 
how to assist with the younger ones. These older pupils 
should be appointed for this work. It will be very helpful 
for them, and will permit the teacher to give more time to 
other things. After a teacher has taught a reading or num- 
ber lesson to first or second grade, some older pupil, who has 
been called to watch the lesson, can carry on the drill by 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 



53 



A Suggestive Program for a Rural School of Eight 
Grades and One Teacher 



Tirne 


Minutes 




8.55 to 9.05 
9.05 to 9.20 
9.20 to 9.30 
9.30 to 9.40 
9.40 to 9.55 
9.55 to 10.15 
10.15 to 10.35 


10 
15 
10 
10 
15 
20 
20 


Openiug, Singing, Scripture, Talks, etc. 

Read and Spell, IV. 

Reading, I. 

Reading, II. 

Read and Spell, III. 

Arithmetic, V-VI. 

Arithmetic, VII-VIH. 


10.35 to 10.50 


15 


Recess. 


10.50 to 11.00 
11.00 to 11.10 
11.10 to 11.20 
11.20 to 11.30 
11.30 to 11.45 
11.45 to 12.00 


10 
10 
10 
10 
15 
15 


Numbers and Stories, I-II. 

Arithmetic, IV. 

Arithmetic, III. 

Writing, Drawing, I to VII. 

History, Geography, VII-VIII. 

History, Geography, V-VI. 


12.00 to 1.00 


60 


Noon Recess. 


1.00 to 1.10 
1.10 to 1.20 
1.20 to 1.35 
1.35 to 1.45 
1.45 to 2.00 
2.00to 2.15 
2.15 to 2.25 


10 
10 
15 
10 
15 
15 
10 


Singing, Speaking, Story, etc. 
Nature, Geog.raphy, IV. 
Reading, I and II. 
Nature, Language, History, III. 
Classics, Language, V, VI. 
Classics, Grammar, VII-VIH. 
History, Language, IV. 


2.25 to 2.40 


15 


Recess. 


2.40 to 3.00 

3.00 to 3.15 
3.15 to 3.30 
3.30 to 3.45 
3.45 to 4.00 


20 

15 
15 
15 

15 


Agriculture, VII-VIII, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. 
Domestic Science (girls), Manual Training (boys) Tuesday, 

Thursday. 

Tlie above 20 minutes for lesson and instruction to be 
followed, when practicable, with practice from 3 to 4. 
Hygiene, Handicrafts, III-IV. 
Hygiene, Story, I-II. 
Physiology, Spelling, V-VI. 
Civics or General Science, VII-VIII. 

When not out for practice from 3 to 4. 



This program shows how other subjects maybe alternated so as to give more time for 
newer types of work. If there is a school garden, agricultural practice may be had part 
of the year. If a small equipment for Domestic Science can be secured, then practice may 
be had in this, and likewise for Manual Training. If tliis practice cannot be had at school, 
then instruction should be given in all of these for home practice in club work or tlie like. 

If the seventh and eighth grades can be transferred to another school, the time given to 
these may be distributed to the other six grades. 

Since every rural school requires pupils to spend so much time at the desks, every good 
program should specify work for recitations and also for intervening time. Complete the 
above program. 



54 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

showing cards for sight work, and by pointing to figures to 
be combined for number practice. Older pupils can conduct 
spelling lessons and correct written spelling. This will make 
the older ones more thorough, and it will help to organize 
the school into a wholesome working community. Different 
ones may be assigned these duties in turn, thus not making 
it a burden. 

More will be said about the course of study and the corre- 
sponding work of the school when we come to Part II, where 
we take up the school subjects one by one. 

IV. Organizing Receeation 

The value of play. Recreation includes any diverting or 
pleasurable exercise or employment. These are highly im- 
portant in the life of the people. Rural life is somewhat 
lacking in opportunities for diversion, and, indeed, rural 
people often rank play along with idleness. But play pre- 
pares for life and enriches life, and the play spirit should be 
kept alive through childhood, youth, and age. Recreations 
include plays, games, festivals, pageants, dramatics, camp- 
ing, fishing, hunting, hiking, picnicking, mountain climbing, 
and the like. Many-sided recreation will keep alive the joy 
of living. We should begin with the plays of children to 
make permanent investments for joyous living. 

Play has many life values — physical, mental, social, and 
moral. It must enter into the vital activities of school life. 
Hence it should be thoughtfully prepared for, as much so 
as any other necessary activities. Play equipment has been 
stressed, including ample grounds and plentiful apparatus. 

Supervision of play. Teachers must plan for play periods, 
and supervise play and games systematically, though part 
of the time the children should be left to their own freedom 
and choices. If necessary play should be made compulsory 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 55 

during the shorter recesses. The timid and the indifferent 
must be drawn in. Zest will be added by the teacher's join- 
ing in the games. This need not be the case every day, 
though it should be so the majority of days. New games 
should be taught, groups of children organized, and the 
grounds and apparatus planned and kept in good condition. 
Committees of pupils may be appointed and duties assigned. 
An older pupil may be detailed each day to go out with the 
younger ones, who are sent out earlier than others, when 
the teacher must remain in for other classes. The older 
pupil may start them doing things, and keep a watchful eye 
over them. Again we insist that this will be highly educa- 
tive for the older pupils so assisting. For both work and 
play the school should be organized as a cooperative com- 
munity. 

Grouping of pupils in play periods. For the organiza- 
tion of play school-children may be loosely grouped into 
about three groups: (1) grades 1, 2, 3; (2) 4, 5, 6; (3) above 
grade 6. 

The first period. About the time a child enters school a 
transition period begins. Before this the play is more free 
and unorganized. Now the child is awakening ta competi- 
tion, to a sense of skill and power, and a tendency to play 
with other children is increasing. There is a constructive 
interest in making things. Games for these should be com- 
petitive and call forth varied activity, and making things 
may be made very absorbing. Some games for this period 
are as follows: bean bags, jumping the rope, tenpins, chasing 
and hunting games, teetering, swinging the rings, playing 
Indian, and other make-believe games. A slide is a never- 
ending source of pleasure to young children, and a sand-pile 
or sand-bin is likewise. Children will play continually with 
these with little supervision needed. 

Boys will make bows and arrows, sailboats, popguns. 



Se TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

whistles, and the Hke. They will dig caves and build shacks 
or tents. Girls will make doll dresses, paper outfits, bas- 
kets, doll houses, weaving products, and bead combinations. 
Both boys and girls like to draw and paint. 

In the second period, with children about ten to twelve 
years, interest is heightening in cooperative games, collec- 
tions, use of tools, playing musical instruments, making tree 
houses, snow forts, insect nets, dams, gardens, etc. Wres- 
tling, leapfrog, jumping, racing, throwing quoits or horse- 
shoes, baseball, acrobatic performances appeal to boys. 
Girls will still play at dolls, jumping the rope, tossing bean- 
bags, ring-toss, basket-making, and weaving. Boys and 
girls will play croquet, crokinole, playground ball, volley- 
ball, tennis, and tether-ball. They pass from the slide to 
coasting, skating, and bicycling. Gardening is interesting 
to both. Drawing, coloring, dramatics, and puzzles are 
interesting for all children. Constructive interests are in 
the direction of real life. Boys will make bird-houses, 
chicken-coops, milk-stools, hammer-handles, hurdle-horses, 
windmills and watermills, furniture, etc. Girls will cook, 
play keeping house, make useful articles to wear, raise 
flowers, etc. 

The third period, beginning at about thirteen years of age, 
is the period of transition, dawning with puberty and ado- 
lescence. There is rapid physical growth and a change to 
social ideals. Boys become more manly, and girls more 
womanly. Physical powers, hero-worship, love of adventure, 
fondness for hunting, camping, and visiting appear. General 
interest in reading is strong, and dramatic interest is at its 
height. Games and play should develop the larger muscles 
and the finer adjustments, and should involve social quali- 
ties. The outdoor gymnasium and the indoor workshop 
should be equipped to attract boys and girls. Parlor games, 
charades, folk-dances, pageants, play festivals, and theatri- 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 57 

cals should be planned and encouraged. All types of ball are 
now in place, except that basket-ball is as yet rather severe 
for girls, unless played moderately. This is a time for agri- 
cultural clubs, school fairs, literary societies, musical clubs, 
spelling-bees, boy scouts, camp-fire girls, and all those 
vital recreations of lasting value in community life. Many 
other plays, games, and recreational activities may be added 
to this merely suggestive list. 

Out of these possibilities the teacher should select the 
most promising beginnings, secure apparatus, and organize 
the children to enter into the plays selected. As children 
tire somewhat of the first games, new ones may be brought 
in, though these should not be taken up too rapidly. The 
learning of a game is not interesting, yet children must be 
kept at a new game until interest comes, and it will come in 
any of these true and tried games. The teacher should not 
be too " bossy" on the playground, and should not supervise 
so closely as to interfere with that spontaneity which is the 
hfe of play; and yet the playground must be made an organic 
part of the life of the school. 

Books and play apparatus. Space will not permit us to 
describe in full these games. Some of the States are issuing 
manuals for this purpose. An excellent one, styled, A Prac- 
tical Recreation Manual for Schools, has been issued by the 
state superintendent of public instruction of Oregon, 
Honorable J. A. Churchill. 

A small, inexpensive manual may be had from Ginn & 
Company. This is. What to Do at Recess, G. E. Johnson. 
(25 cents.) 

OTHER GOOD BOOKS 

Bancroft, Jessie H. Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymna- 
sium. (The Macmillan Company.) 
Curtis, H. S. Play and Recreation. (Ginn & Co.) 
Excellent. Is rural throughout. 



58 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Burchenal, E. Folk-Dances and Singing Games. (G. S. Schirmer, New York.) 
Johnson, G. E. Education by Plays and Games. (Ginn & Co.) 
Excellent. 

Leland, A. L. and L. H. Playground Technique and Playcraft. (Doubleday, 
Page & Co.) 

This book, vol. i, gives excellent instruction about laying off grounds and making 
apparatus. It gives measurements, diagrams, etc. 

Chubb and others. Festivals and Plays. (Charles Scribner's Sons, New 
York.) 

Outlines many Festivals and Pageants. 

Forbush, W. B. Manual of Play. (American Institute of Child Life, Phila- 
delphia.) 

A very full, complete book with play theories and suggestions, and many play devices. 
The last three books are more expensive, but these should be placed in the library of 
every rural school. 

Beginnings in play organization. The teacher might begin 
\\dth the two small books by Johnson. The whole subject 
should be discussed more in teachers' meetings, and play 
schemes should be secured from one another. The devices 
that will require least supervision with small children are 
the sand bin and the slide. The sand bin should be in the 
sun part of the day, and now and then it should be thor- 
oughly stirred and freed from bits of paper, bread, and the 
like. This will keep it wholesome. Sometimes rural people 
complain that the slide wears out clothes, but if it is well 
polished the wear is insignificant, and children delight to 
use it. Swings are good, though these may be monopolized 
by a few, whereas many can use the slide and the rotation 
takes care of itself. Teeters are also good. All of these may 
be home-made. 

A rope stretched about seven feet high may serve the 
purpose instead of the net for volley-ball. Boys can quickly 
make the board for tossing the bean-bags, and girls can 
readily make the bags for beans. These bags should vary in 
weight. Horseshoes may easily be found by the boys for the 
pitching game, a game often indulged in by men of all ages. 
These items are mentioned in a supplementary way to indi- 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 59 

cate how easy it is to make some beginnings, and thus to 
encourage many teachers to undertake the stimulation and 
partial direction of school play. No teacher should be afraid 
of falhng from dignity through engaging in play with chil- 
dren. It will bring about a delightful comraderie not other- 
wise to be had. It will make for better lessons, easier disci- 
pline, and a more wholesome, symmetrical child development. 
Play furnishes good physical culture, good mental culture, 
good social culture, good moral culture. What school sub- 
ject can do more.^ 

V. Organizing the Coi^imunity 

School events. School recreations often involve the larger 
community, which should be drawn into these recreations 
with the school. The school is now frequently referred to as 
the natural community center. The teacher is the organizer 
of the school, hence the teacher should have to do with and 
be interested in certain organized movements of the com- 
munity. The school can be made a great center of recrea- 
tion. In the first place, special school days for the exhibit of 
school work are stimulating to the children, more so when 
the grown-ups turn out to inspect. The celebration of the 
landing of Columbus, Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving, Washing- 
ton's Birthday, Bird and Arbor Day, or May Day may fur- 
nish the opportunity for an exhibit of work collected from 
the best specimens, as well as for a special school program, 
and an invitation to community members to spend a half 
day with the school. 

A yearly school fair where several schools, probably the 
schools of a county, come together for an exhibit of the 
school or agricultural work of the children, is coming into 
favor in many States. This is a great incentive to better 
school work in every school, and it furnishes such a valuable 



60 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

day for a community social gathering on a large scale. Every 
rural school can do much to furnish the matters of common 
interest to bring the people together. A literary society may 
be organized in the school, and general meetings may occa- 
sionally be held when older people are assigned to some of 
the places on the program. If there is musical talent in the 
school and the neighborhood, the teacher may bring this 
together into a club organization. Every member may be 
stimulated to endeavor in his specialty, probably a band 
organized, a quartette or glee club developed, and a special 
musical night made a rare occasion. At least the school can 
practice songs and sing on the special school occasions. 

In such ways as these can the school furnish the affairs of 
common interest to bring the community together in a way 
helpful to the school and also to the community. More 
opportunities for recreation are needed to overcome the 
isolation of rural life. The people, young and old, will be 
made happier, and all will respond more readily to the 
needs of the school. Many teachers oppose special programs 
because these break in on the regular routine of the school. 
But the interference will not be so great when the programs 
grow mainly out of the work of the school, and then more 
life will be put into the work of the school; also the commu- 
nity will develop a finer school spirit of value to the school in 
many, many ways. 

Special-day programs. Under the direction of State Su- 
perintendent M. P. Shawkey, of West Virginia, a pam- 
phlet. Hand Book of Suggestions and Programs for Com- 
munity Social Gatherings at Rural Schoolhouses, has been 
prepared by L. J. Hanifan, state supervisor of rural schools, 
for use in that State. It is a valuable help to teachers, and 
has inspired many to undertake the movement. 

Programs should be made according to the community 
interests and conveniences. Some should be held in the day 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 61 

time for special exhibits, plays, and athletics, while others 
should be held at night. If the schoolhouse is not provided 
with lights, lanterns may be borrowed, or candles may be 
used, though a few good lamps would be much better. Some 
men in authority may be asked to look after good order on 
the part of any irresponsible outsiders who might want to be 
boisterous. 

Suggestions have already been made for a music evening. 
Radiopticons, or instruments to reflect pictures on the wall 
from ordinary postcards or similar pictures, are now getting 
so common and so low in price that every community should 
have one, which might be called upon for a travel evening. 
Different ones may bring in postcards or pictures, and the 
teacher can make collections, such as of Children in Many 
Lands, Our Island Possessions, the Grand Canyon in 
Arizona, the Cliff Dwellers, Cities of the United States, etc. 
Children and community members may tell stories of travel. 

Old-time spelling-bees can be held several times during 
the session, sometimes in the evenings, sometimes as a part 
of a day program. All present should be chosen to spell. 

It should be easy and interesting in any community in 
the United States, to give an Indian program and a local 
history program. In connection with these, stories of pioneer 
days and later progress may be given, and spice may be 
added to the local history evening if the school-children 
with others prepare a mock newspaper of current history, 
though this should be carefully censored to prevent impru- 
dent sayings which might give offense. 

Other suggestions for community effort. In the arrange- 
ment and conduct of community programs, there should be 
a program committee to assist the teacher, and community 
members should take places on the programs; that is, these 
should not be exclusively school programs. A great May 
Day Play Festival for the entire community is becoming 



62 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

quite an event in some localities. A May Queen may be 
chosen, and the children may crown her and dance about 
her. It should be made a care-free day of frolic and fun for 
young and old, something in spirit like Mardi Gras days in 
New Orleans. The procession of the seasons and the joyous 
awakening of new life of spring should supply the main 
setting of the occasion. 

Athletic events, boys' and girls' clubs, and school credit 
for home work are valuable features of modern rural schools, 
bringing the community in touch with the school and the 
school in touch with rural life. These will be treated in 
another connection later on in this book. 

This program for the school may seem overpretentious, 
even alarming to some teachers. But keep in mind that the 
old order of rural school must give way to the new, which 
is to relate the activities of the school to the needs of rural 
life. 

Some rural-community characteristics. In going in and 
out among people of the community, the teacher should 
take an active interest in the affairs of all. This should be a 
genuine sympathetic interest, and such will soon bring 
sympathetic responses in words and cooperation so needed 
by every teacher. It is often difficult to appear impartial 
when some people are so much more lovable or congenial 
than others. Especially is this true in dealing with children. 
Country people are inclined to watch out for partialities, 
and to be jealous of their rights. They breathe an air of 
freedom and are naturally individualistic, democratic, and 
champions of the doctrine of equality. Hence the teacher 
should seek ways of manifesting an impartial interest in all, 
just as if making neighbors for life. 

Another warning may be given the rural teacher. Coun- 
try people are often gossipy. Having so few distractions, 
they interest themselves more minutely about petty neigh- 



ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 63 

borhood affairs. They are often quite willing to chat about 
these as the teacher goes their way. They may tell the 
teacher some really valuable things to know about family 
pecuUarities and the bad children of the neighborhood. 
Listening to all this with judicial-mindedness, the teacher 
should never in an unguarded moment say imkind things or 
talk about the bad children, the tart notes, or any other 
person or thing in such a way as to feed gossip, for it will all 
come back again, as in the story of the three black crows. 
A good sentiment to adopt is expressed in these lines : — 

"There is enough of good in the worst of us 
And enough of bad in the best of us. 
That it Uttle becomes any of us 
To say unkind things of the rest of us." 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Draw a plan of the school grounds as you would have them for a one- 
teacher school and a two-acre lot. Wherein could you improve the 
plan if the lot contained five acres? 

2. Sketch floor plans for a one-teacher schoolhouse. Can the shops and 
library be so placed as to be watched by the teacher and yet not to 
make for distraction of the pupils? 

S. What the advantages of chairs instead of the usual desks in a rural 
school? What kinds of chau-s? 

4. When are wells and springs dangerous as sources of drinking water? 

5. In what different ways may a new teacher secure the needed informa- 
tion to guide in making a schedule the first day? 

6. What are some good effects of a well-planned first day? 

7. What the difficulties of making a schedule of daily recitations? Where 
place the most difficult studies? Where should penmanship not be 
placed? 

Make a schedule for each teacher of a four-teacher school of seven 
or eight elementary grades. 

8. What are ways and means of getting the most assistance from pupils 
in managing and teaching? 

9. What are the educative values of play? What the need for supervised 
play? Discuss right waj^s and wrong ways of play supervision. 

10. What is a junior high school? It may serve what purposes? Where 
locate one or more in your county? 



64 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

11. In what different ways may the teacher serve the community? What 
difficulties in the way of having community programs? How would 
you overcome these difficulties in your community? 

12. What advantages has the school over the church as a community 
center? The consolidated school over the one-teacher school? 

13. Make a list of school programs, one for each month, to be of interest 
to parents and others and thus to interest them in school. 

14. Make a similar list of programs in which other community members 
as well as school children have leading rdles. Compare lists with 
other teachers. 

15. Make a program, month by month, of things the pupils are to do 
by way of addition to the plant or of school improvement in other 
ways, such as building fence, making school chairs, setting trees and 
shrubbery, etc. 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Alderman, L. R. School Credit for Home Work. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 
Carney, Mabel. Country Life and the Country School. (Row, Peterson & 

Co.) 
Chubb, and others. Festivals and Plays. (Charles Scribner's Sons.) 
Cubberley, E. P. Rural Life and Education. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Dresslar, F. B. School Hygiene. (The Macmillan Company.) 
Dresslar, F. B. Rural School Houses and Grounds. Bulletin no. 12, 1914, 

United States Bureau of Education, Washington. 
Field, Jessie. The Corn Lady. (A. Flanagan Company, Chicago.) 
Johnson, G. E. Education by Plays and Games. (Ginn & Co.) 
McKeever, W. A. Farm Boys and Girls. (The Macmillan Company.) 
Wray, Angelina. Jean MitchelVs School. (Public School Publication Com- 
pany.) 
United States Bureau of Education, and State Education Department 
Bulletins on School Buildings and Grounds. 



CHAPTER V 

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 

I. THE CHILD 

I. Periods of Growth and Development 

One of the first of modern educational reformers whose 
influence has reached us was Rousseau (1712-78). He in- 
sisted upon what we may term "child individuality." 
Briefly stated, his doctrine was somewhat as follows : — 

Each period of life has its own peculiarities y rights, and 
needs. Childhood has its place in the order of humanity, and 
manhood has its place. The child must be treated as a child, 
and the man as a man. The child must not be forced prematurely 
into the world of adult concerns. 

One of the great problems of education grows out of this 
doctrine. How can teaching and school work be adapted to 
characteristics and needs of the varying periods of growth 
and development? Many studies have been made to discover 
the nature of these periods. We can give only a brief men- 
tion here of some things which may help the teacher. There 
is always some danger of undue emphasis on differences 
when periods of life are discussed separately. The growth is 
really continuous, with no abrupt break between periods. 
Yet there are critical shifts with peculiar characteristics 
appearing at different stages, and it is to bring attention to 
some of these that the customary periods are here discussed. 

Infancy and early childhood. This is the home period 
from birth to about six years of age. At first the child is a 
little animal, and its growth as such will condition all phases 
of its after life. Herbert Spencer has said that our first duty 



TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 



to the child is to make it a strong, healthy animal. The con- 
ditions of healthy growth should be of first concern. 

In this first stage the senses are active, and the child early 
responds to suggestion which is manifested in imitation. 
Children are innately imaginative, and they should have a 
variety of interests to keep imagination wholesome. An 
abundance of playthings is therefore necessary. There is a 
growing desire for new experiences, and this can best be 
satisfied by opening up to them gradually certain phases of 
the wide world in which they find themselves. The teacher 
in rural schools does not have the care of the child during 
this period, yet through parent-teacher conferences, calling 
parents together to discuss children's growth and needs, the 
parents may help one another, and be greatly helped by the 
teacher. 

Childhood. This is the period of the elementary school, 

covering approximately 
the ages from six to 
twelve. During the 
childhood period boys 
and girls grow in weight 
and height at nearly 
the same rate, the girl 
keeping slightly small- 
er than the boy of the 
same age. At twelve 
years of age the girl 
has grown ahead of the 
boy, but at fifteen the 
boy passes ahead again. ^ 
The girl matures more 
rapidly than the boy, and reaches womanhood a year or two 
before manhood in the boy of the same age. During the 
* See table, "Measurements of American Children," p. 74. ■ 



68^ 

66 

64 

62 

60 

58 

56 

64 

52 

60 

48 

46 

44 

42 

40 
Age 5 6 7 8^,9 101112 1314 15 16 1718 

Fig. 9. Showing Growth in Height 
AND Weight of American Child 

■ (From Terman's The Hygiene of the School Child.) 







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90 
80 
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THE CHILD 67 

period of the elementary school she will become more preco- 
cious than the boy, and this will be more noticeable in early 
adolescence. 

This period is one of growth, and the physical child must 
still be cared for. Proper food, plenty of fresh air, sunshine, 
sleep, and exercise outdoors are yet essential. The younger 
children are more susceptible to wrong conditions than are 
the older ones of this period; hence the best conditions in 
housing, seating, warming, ventilating, and exercising should 
be provided for them. The larger muscles develop first, and 
the muscles of finer adjustment, such as of hands and fingers, 
are imperfectly developed at the beginning of this period. 
Writing should therefore begin with the full, free motion as 
in blackboard writing and with large copy, since the neces- 
sary control of finger movements in writing smaller letters is 
not yet possible. 

Characteristics of this early period. The nervous system 
is growing and plastic, and this furnishes the great oppor- 
tunity for forming habits which will be useful — 'habits of 
speech, cleanliness, neatness, obedience, respect, etc. 

The senses are now alert and keen, and the child is getting 
foundations in sense knowledge. Observation may be stimu- 
lated, guided, made accurate, and the mind stored with 
abundance of sense material. Nature study has its place here. 
Imagination is active, and stories do their best work now. 
Play is also a great factor. Imitation takes a constructive 
turn, and the child likes to do, to make, and to draw things. 

The first school year must not break too abruptly with 
the preceding life. Confinement in the room and at set tasks 
must at first be for short periods. Children should learn to 
read and to write this year, but very little number work 
should be forced upon them. Stories, nature observation, 
drawing, handicrafts, and play activities should be given 
opportunity in the natural development. 



68 TEACHING IN RUKAL SCHOOLS 

Children in this period Hke to do things for themselves, 
to excel, and hence emulation of the right sort may be 
effective as a motive. Also in this period various instincts 
manifest themselves and may be used to establish many 
interests. Curiosity, a genuine desire to know, may be used 
until this desire becomes a permanent interest. Using it in 
the field of nature study, an interest in natural science may 
become permanent. In a similar way the story instinct may 
be built on to establish a history interest and an interest in 
people in general. 

The following paragraph is adapted from the introduction 
by Dr. G. Stanley Hall in his great book, Adolescence : — 

The years from about eight to twelve constitute an 
unique period of human life. The acute stage of teething is 
passing, the brain has acquired nearly its adult size and 
weight, health is almost at its best, activity is greater and 
more varied than ever before or than it ever will be again, 
and there is peculiar endurance, vitality, and resistance to 
fatigue. Everything, in short, suggests the culmination of 
one stage of life as if it thus represented what was once, and 
for a very protracted and relatively stationary period, the 
age of maturity in some remote stage of human evolution, 
when in a warm climate the young of our species shifted for 
themselves more independently of further parental aid. 
The child now revels in its tribal, predatory, hunting, fish- 
ing, fighting, rowing, playing proclivities. It must not be 
weaned from but perpetually incited to visit field, forest, 
hill, the water, flowers, animals, the true homes of child- 
hood in this stage from which modem conditions have kid- 
napped and transported him. The very soul and body cry 
out for an active, objective life, and to know nature and man 
at first hand. These two staples, nature and stories, consti- 
tute fundamental education. Reading, writing, drawing, 
manual training, musical technic, numbers, and many kinds 



THE CHILD 69 

of skill have now their golden hour. Never again vdW there 
be such susceptibility to drill and discipline, such plasticity 
to habituation, or such ready adjustment to new conditions. 
But reason, sentiment, and most that pertains to the true 
kingdom of manhood are only nascent or embryonic. These 
are to become conspicuous in the next period, adolescence. 

Youth, or adolescence. This third period of growth and 
development is one of transition from childhood to manhood 
or womanhood. Youth is the familiar name applied to this 
period, and adolescence to the greater portion of it following 
puberty. The age of fourteen is often taken as the legal 
beginning of adolescence, but this is only a convenience. 
Some girls enter adolescence at eleven, some boys at twelve, 
and some as late as sixteen. We have noted that the age of 
twelve marks approximately the culmination of one stage 
of life. Some children develop more rapidly than others and 
pass into youth a little earlier. Some linger longer in child- 
hood, bodily and mentally. Some are at times so far behind 
as to suggest abnormal or arrested development. Yet the 
majority of children approximate the normal. The ages from 
twelve to twenty-one may be taken for the period of adoles- 
cence. 

From twelve to fifteen may be called " early adolescence," 
a transition stage. These would, in the arrangement now 
common, be years of the latter part of the elementary school 
and the beginning of the high school, but in the newer order, 
often what is termed the "junior high school." 

From fifteen to twenty-one would be "later adolescence," 
the years of senior high school and college. 

Adolescent characteristics. In adolescence there are 
periods of more rapid growth. Boys and girls begin to grow 
more unlike, the boy in direction of manhood, the girl 
toward womanhood. There are changes in bones, muscles, 
vital organs, brain, in fact every organ of the body is more 



70 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

or less modified. The change has been hkened to the meta- 
morphosis of the butterfly. New interests, new sentiments, 
new views of hfe appear. Sex manifests itseK, and boys and 
girls begin to assume new attitudes toward one another. 
Boys organize teams for play, but girls are often here in- 
clined to quit play just when they need it most. Social and 
religious instincts now unfold. The youth begins to con- 
sider more and more the problems of life and vocation. It is 
the golden age for sentiment and religion. Selfhood and 
ambition are strengthening, character and personality are 
shaping, and reason is asserting itself. It is a marvelous new 
birth which the school has been slow to recognize and to 
treat as such. 

All rapid growth is expensive in consuming energy, and 
all periods of transition are times of nervous instability. 
Children may seem mentally sluggish or dull when growing 
rapidly. There should be caution in pushing studies with 
such children, and the bodily growth needs assistance. Lungs 
are expanding and new poisons are appearing to be cast off 
through blood and lungs. Hence outdoor life and play are 
still very necessary. Since girls develop more rapidly and 
peculiarly than boys, there is at first greater dangers 
threatening their health. But later, about nineteen, the 
death-rate of the boy is higher than that of the girl, showing 
that he too has critical stages. 

The problem of adaptation. It is not the intention of this 
book to go far into the high-school period. Adolescence is 
here introduced to emphasize the problem of adaptation of 
school to child needs. The beginning of this new life marks 
the time for changes in attitudes of school work. It is a time 
for the introduction of new subjects, and probably for trans- 
fer to a new school with new surroundings and different 
teachers. It is rather too much to demand of the teacher in 
the one-teacher school to cover the six years of childhood 



THE CHILD 71 

with their special problems, and to enter also this more 
peculiar field. Here are natural and fundamental reasons 
for the six-six, or some such new organization of school life. 
Transportation should begin with this period, if not before, 
and take children to a central school where equipment, 
course of study, discipline, men teachers as well as women, 
and other necessary readjustments all recognize the new 
life of youth. Not only will the quality of education thus be 
improved, but children will remain in school longer, another 
consummation devoutly to be wished. 

Chronological and physiological age. In bounding the 
periods we have had to use often the word " approximately," 
since the degree of maturity may not correspond to the age 
in years. A boy at seventeen years may not be more mature 
than another at fourteen. We measure, grade, and classify, 
more often by years of age than by maturity. We are just 
learning that there is often a disparity between the age in 
years (chronological age) and the real maturity (physio- 
logical age) . Dr. Crampton has made a study of the begin- 
ning and completion of puberty in 3835 boys in New York 
City.^ At twelve years of age a very small per cent had 
passed puberty, sixteen per cent were passing and eighty-one 
per cent not entering. At thirteen years nearly forty-five 
per cent had passed or were passing; at fourteen years, 
nearly seventy-five per cent; at fifteen years, nearly ninety 
per cent; at sixteen years, nearly ninety-seven per cent; 
and at seventeen years, one hundred per cent. Since girls 
mature earlier than boys, we must begin at least with the 
age of twelve to catch the tide turning toward adolescence. 

Dr. Crampton found that boys of approximately the 
same age in years, thirteen to fourteen, varied in weight as 
follows: pre-pubescents, 34.9 kilograms; pubescents, 37.7 

^ Terman, L. M. Hygiene of the School Child, p. 64, citing Crampton, 
American Physical Education Review, March, 1908. 



72 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

kilograms; and post-pubescents, 43.9 kilograms. This 
means that boys of fourteen, for example, are heavy or light 
as they have or have not reached puberty. The same parallel 
holds for height and strength. Scholarship, also, correlates 
with maturity. The same correlation between weight, 
height, strength, scholarship, and maturity holds for girls, 
but girls mature more rapidly than boys. 

Dr. Crampton's data may throw light on some things. 
Boys drop out of school more rapidly than girls; girls of a 
given chronological age usually make better school marks 
than boys of the same age; many pupils break down in 
trying to keep up with others of the same chronological age; 
trying to force all children along according to chronological 
age rather than real maturity brings about a high percent- 
age of failures of promotion; differences are most noticeable 
in the period of early adolescence. 

Individual differences. It would seem that from the be- 
ginning of early adolescence there should be as much indi- 
vidual instruction as possible, and education of girls should 
differentiate somewhat from that of boys. In the early high- 
school years there will now be found boys of all three stages 
of maturity, pre-pubescent, pubescent, and post-pubescent, 
and similarly girls who are nearly two years ahead of the 
boys in maturity, yet all in the same classes. These obser- 
vations again place emphasis on the need of a separate 
school beginning about the age of twelve. 

Differences in maturity will begin to show in the elemen- 
tary school. Teachers should study children to determine 
the physiological ages. Variation in weight and height from 
the average for the chronological age may raise the question 
of maturity, and if this variation is accompanied by back- 
wardness or forwardness in learning, the individual case 
should be carefully observed and treated accordingly. 
Growth must have fair opportunity to do its work, and back- 



THE CHILD 73 

ward children must not always be put down as merely lazy, 
dull, or indifferent. In this matter of growth, the race is not 
always to the swift. The slow ones often come out good and 
strong. 

Slow and defective growth may be due to various causes, 
some of which are heredity, malnutrition, insufficient sleep, 
inadequate clothing, child labor, lack of play opportunity, 
and disease. Child labor and poverty have a marked effect 
in stunting growth. Bad teeth affecting digestion, adenoids 
or other obstructions in nose or throat affecting breathing, 
and the hookworm disease so prevalent in the South are 
causes of defective growth which may be located and re- 
moved. The teacher should get a fairly good physical record 
of each child, as referred to in other places in this book, and 
carefully study the same. Note especially the physical 
records of backward children. Make such allowance for 
variation from the normal as might be indicated by hered- 
ity, racial and family. That is, in some families children 
may average low in weight and height and be normal in 
maturity. In other families children will average high. 
After family variations are allowed for, careful scrutiny 
should be made for other causes in the case of backward 
children. 

Average weight and height. The following table of average 
weight and height is given for comparison with the weight 
and height of children in any school. Much variation from 
these measurements may suggest a variation in maturity, 
and school work should be regulated in accordance with the 
best judgment of the teacher after careful consideration of 
the records. 

The teacher should get the height and weight of all 
children between six and seven and compare with measure- 
ments opposite 6.5; between seven and eight to compare 
with opposites of 7.5; and so on for the whole school. 



74 



TEx'iCHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 



Measurements of American Children according to their 
Age in Years, showing Weight in Pounds and Height in 
Inches 



Age 


Weight 


Height 












Boys 


Oirh 


Boys 


Girls 


6.5 


45.2 


43.4 


43.9 


43.3 


7.5 


49.5 


47.7 


46.0 


45.7 


8.5 


54.5 


52.5 


48.8 


47.7 


9.5 


59.6 


57.4 


50.0 


49.7 


10.5 


65.4 


62.9 


51.9 


51.7 


11.5 


70.7 


69.5 


53.6 


53.8 


12.5 


76.9 


78.7 


55.4 


56.1 


13.5 


84.8 


88.7 


57.5 


58.5 


14.5 


95.2 


98.3 


60.0 


60.4 


15.5 


107.4 


106.7 


62.9 


61.6 


16.5 


121.0 


112.3 


64.9 


62.2 



Average height calculated, by Dr. Franz Boaz, from measurements of 45,151 boys and 
43,298 girls in the cities of Boston, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Worcester, Toronto, and Oakland. 
Average weight calculated, by M. de Perrot, from data on about 68,000 children in the 
cities of Boston, St. Louis and Milwaukee. 



II. The Child's Original Capital 

Education must work with nature rather than against it. 
Education will be more effective and more economical in 
proportion as it utilizes the native tendencies wherever 
these are good. In "ye old-time school" the natural ten- 
dency to physical activity was suppressed for long hours of 
confinement; and if a child was caught drawing a picture on 
his slate, his ears were boxed for his yielding to his expres- 
sive and artistic cravings. Enjoyment was condemned, 
sense knowledge little used, and the child at once put at 
work with the dryest of abstract symbols and operations. 
All this did violence to the original nature of the child. The 
modern school attempts to connect up with the native 



THE CHILD 75 

tendencies and interests of the child, for out of these are the 
issues of Hfe. What are some of these? 

Instincts and general innate tendencies. "Instincts are 
definite, complex forms of inherited response to definite 
stimuli." (Pyle.) 

"Instinct is the faculty of acting in such a way as to 
produce certain ends, without foresight of the ends, and 
without previous education in the performance." (James.) 

Biologists, psychologists, and sociologists are not yet 
agreed on a definition of instinct. The above definitions 
are given by way of illustration. All are agreed that instincts 
are inborn tendencies to more or less definite modes of action, 
unusually adaptive in their nature and common to a whole 
species. If the statement stops at this, it will include more 
than some are willing to include. There are simple reflex 
actions, such as winking, crying, coughing, sneezing, vom- 
iting. There are reflexes a little more complicated, such as 
sucking, clasping, carrying to the mouth, shaking the head, 
sitting up. 

The responses become more of a complex of reflexes 
in acquisitive, constructive, fearing, collecting, and mi- 
gratory tendencies, and in flight, pugnacity, and parental 
instincts. 

General innate tendencies which unify a great variety of 
acts, hence become still more complex, are play, curiosity, 
imitation, emulation, and sociability. 

The definition of James includes as instinctive all the 
above-mentioned human tendencies. Others, limiting in- 
stincts to complex responses, would exclude the simple 
reflex acts, and insist that the general innate tendencies in- 
volve a compound of instincts, and that play, imitation, 
etc., should not be classed as instincts. 

Excluding the simple reflexes, it makes little difference 
here whether we class general innate tendencies as instincts 



76 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

or refuse to do so. For simplicity we are inclined to call 
instinctive all those activities that an animal can perform 
without having to learn how. The pedagogy of the instincts 
and of the general innate tendencies is the same. The basis 
of all these is in the inherited nervous system. This heritage 
furnishes the strongest forces of human nature, and it is the 
child's original capital for life. These instinctive and innate 
tendencies can be directed and formed into habit. Habit is a 
tendency acquired and made dej&nite, not inborn as instinct. 
Instincts not used may weaken and nearly disappear. 
Human instincts when used combine with intelligence and 
may thus become masked, so that some people are inclined 
to think that man is weak in instincts. James insists that 
man has a greater number of instincts than any other 
animal. 

The development of instincts. Some peculiarities of 
instinct should be noted by teachers: — 

Some instincts are full-fledged when the child is born. 
Other instincts mature at later times as the nervous system 
matures. In the baby fish practically all instincts are 
mature, and the little fish needs no education. The child is 
born immature, and it requires a long period of time for 
growth and adaptation. Education becomes a necessity. 
As children's instincts mature, there is a manifested dispo- 
sition to the behavior prompted by the respective instincts. 
We speak of these dispositions as children's interests. These 
tell us when to use instinctive tendencies to fix for good 
habits. " We should strike while the iron is hot." The con- 
structive or making tendency should be used in manual 
training. This will assist to maturity, and develop interest, 
skill, and originality in constructive work. 

Play is nature's method of developing the child. Botn 
body and mind are called into action in a stimulating way. 
Rob a child of play and you rob it of the best traits of fife. 



THE CHILD 77 

Such a child will be undeveloped, one-sided in nature, and, 
as a rule, anti-social and not an agreeable companion in 
later life. 

Curiosity, the child's great desire to find out, may be 
stimulated and guided so as to establish permanent interests 
in many fields of science, history, people, and all good. 
Little by little most of us drop our imperfect interests of 
this sort until we have desires to know about only a few 
things in the world, our lives have narrowed down to petty 
interests, and learning most things has become a bore. At 
the proper time the child is interested in learning anything 
and everything. Natural curiosity should be kept strong 
through proper exercise. 

The migratory instinct may be directed into nature study 
and geographic explorations, and the collecting instinct 
guided into channels of natural history and geography. 

The gregarious, or gang, instinct may be turned to advan- 
tage through organized games and clubs. The boys' and 
girls' club movements in agriculture and rural life should be 
utilized. Literary or debating clubs may be stimulated. 
Musical, artistic, and dramatic organizations come in here. 
The gang tendency should not be left alone to run into gos- 
sipy, predatory, or other undesirable gangs. 

Individual variations. Another peculiarity for the teacher 
to reckon with is the tendency of instincts to vary in different 
individuals, according to heredity, so as to give a lack of 
balance. Pugnacity may be strong in some, and shyness or 
timidity in others. Gregariousness may be strong, or a ten- 
dency to shun others may appear. 

An attempt should be made to restore a balance in instinc- 
tive tendencies. The timid and shy should be encouraged, 
the fighting ones told stories of kindness and of sympathy. 
Self-respect should be stressed with those of excessive humil- 
ity, and politeness and respect for others stressed with the 



78 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

overforward. Courage should be instilled in the fearful, 
caution in the headlong. 

Thus not all native tendencies are good. Some must be 
strengthened, others checkmated by an opposite. The bal- 
anced life is a rare achievement but a worthy ideal. 

Good teaching should stimulate and give direction to 
proper native tendencies. Use strengthens these, fixes them 
into habits, and builds up correlated interests. Neglect of 
opportunity for use causes instincts to weaken. Substitu- 
tion of opportunity in the direction of desirable instincts 
for undesirable tendencies is the best method of displacing 
the undesirable. 

Instincts and interests are so closely connected that one 
leads naturally into the other. 

III. Interests 

Immediately out of the theory of instincts comes the doc- 
trine of interest. " The craving for exercise of a rapidly grow- 
ing brain center manifests itself as an interest." (Tyler.) 

Forcing, and arrested development. Interests are thus 
connected up with activities of the brain centers. The 
craving, or feeling, which prompts an interest is at first in- 
stinctive and dependent upon a maturing brain center. 
It follows that until the interest appears, that part of the 
brain is not sufficiently mature to profit by exercise, hence 
there is such a thing as forcing the child prematurely, and 
not only an aversion formed but brain growth hindered, so 
that " arrested development " may result. We should not 
crowd back higher studies into lower grades without reckon- 
ing with the maturity of the children. Children must grow 
through children's ways before they reach adult ways. 
Nature has had more experience and has raised more chil- 
dren than have we, and we should not thwart unwisely. 



THE CHILD 79 

Herbart (1776-1841) was the first to give us a doctrine of 
interest, and his influence in this and other theories has gone 
far to create a science of teaching. He classifies interests 
into two main groups, each with three subordinate classes. 

Interests awakened by nature. The first main group con- 
sists of interests awakened by nature apart from man, the 
realm of the natural sciences. 

The subdivisions under this are : — 

The emjpiricaly which includes the general attractiveness 
of things in nature, the variety, the novelty, and the chang- 
ing moods. This is mere sightseeing interest. 

The Speculative, which goes deeper than the empirical, 
seeking connections, causes, origins, laws, and such expla- 
nations in nature. This leads to the fundamentals of the 
natural sciences. Why can a squirrel come down a tree in a 
way a cat cannot? How can a fish breathe in water? A 
child has native interests in all such. 

The oBsthetic, which includes the beautiful in nature and 
art. 

Interests centering in man. The second main group of 
interests centers in man, his^ways, history, literature, and 
the social sciences. 

The subdivisions are: — 

The sympathetic, which concerns itself with individuals, 
their successes and failures, joys and sorrows, loves and 
hates. This is the field of romance and biography. King 
Arthur, Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, Columbus, Washington, 
and others are centers of great stories because of the per- 
sonal interest. 

The social, involving the fortunes of nations, states, 
societies, peoples, their liberty or slavery, progress or stag- 
nation. Fraternities, clubs, and social societies or organiza- 
tions are built on social interests. 

The religious, which embraces our interests in the future 



80 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

world, God, the Creator and ruler over all, and all that is 
considered under spiritual interests of man. 

Under this showing it was insisted that interest is many- 
sided, that all these six classes should be developed, and that 
school studies and materials should be selected for this 
purpose. 

In this classification Herbart rather overlooked the group 
of interests in motor activities, in constructing, inventing, 
and seK-expression through material forms. In basing a 
course of study on his outline, these motor activities, as well 
as the formal, mechanical studies, such as spelling, arith- 
metical operations, mechanics of reading, must be added. 

Dr. Dewey*s classification. Dr. John Dewey, of Columbia 
University, in The School and Society^ makes a fourfold 
classification of the earliest interests of children which is 
of value to the school. He says, "Now, keeping in mind 
these fourfold interests, — the interest in conversation or 
communication, in inquiry or finding out things, in making 
things or construction, and in artistic expression, — we may say 
they are the natural resources, the uninvested capital, upon 
the exercise of which depends the active giowth of the child.'* 

There is thus a tendency, supported by all modern child 
study, to give first place to the native, instinctive interests 
of childhood, and from these to proceed with school work 
to include the best which history, literature, and science 
can supply, also typical modern industries and social life. 
In this latter Dr. Dewey is superior to Herbart. 

It appears in this discussion that interests may be native 
and acquired. How interests are developed is a matter of 
importance. 

How to develop interest. Native interests have been 
styled direct interests, and interests derived through asso- 
ciation called indirect or derived interests. In the many 
lines of native interests suggested may be found centers of 



THE CHILD 81 

interest around which to organize the many school studies. 
Mother Goose, Robinson Crusoe, Aladdin, Hiawatha, and 
Robin Hood appeal directly. If nearly all of the child's 
reading matter could be selected so as to appeal to his in- 
stinctive interests he would with pleasure overcome the 
difficulties of learning. Let the arithmetical problems group 
around school activities related to the community. If 
through stories, centers of interest are built up, history may 
be given an enduring interest. Nature study gives the natu- 
ral approach to physical features in geography, to agricul- 
ture, and all natural sciences. Interest in people, travel, and 
supplies of food and clothing furnishes the approach to other 
phases of geography. 

Interest and drilL Interest, however, though it inspires 
vigor of thought and deepens all impressions, can never dis- 
pense with drill for habituation. In spelling, in arithmetical 
tables and processes, in language forms, letter forms, and 
punctuation, and in other mechanics of learning there must 
be patient drill to fix the desirable possessions and render 
facile their use. The doctrine of interest, wisely applied, 
will mitigate the terrors of drill many fold, though it cannot 
entirely remove the necessity for repetition to fix habit. The 
main point must not be lost to sight, which is, that many- 
sided interests are developed and strengthened for culture, 
character, life. Thus interest is involved both as means and 
as an end in teaching. As a means, interest promotes all 
learning, stimulates mental vigor, vigor of thought, of mem- 
ory, and of attention, and achieves the best results in any 
branch of study or any valuable activity. This means that 
interest is a motive power used to arrive at certain desired 
ends. As an end, the teacher must seek to build up perma- 
nent life interests, to crowd out undesirable interests, and 
thus, whether native or acquired, these interests are to 
become valuable possessions. 



82 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

IV. Apperception 

Definition and Illustrations. From Herbart the term 
"apperception" has come into wide use, as applied to a 
phase of association of ideas, so as to give a very fruitful 
emphasis to this for teachers. We acquire a number of ideas 
through experience, and every new idea coming in is at first 
associated with some old idea already in experience. 

Apperception has been defined as the process of acquir- 
ing new ideas by the aid of old ideas already in the mind, to 
which the new is likened or with which the new is associated. 
This was rather the idea in older psychology of association 
to aid the memory, but the new idea stressed by appercep- 
tion is that it also aids in interpretation of the new. Halleck 
illustrates this with the story of the three men passing a tree. 
One comments on it as such a fine tree for lumber, another is 
impressed with the quantity of bark, and the third with it 
as likely to contain squirrels. The first was a carpenter, 
the second a tanner, and the third a hunter. The tree was 
the same in light, shade, etc., for all to see, but it made a 
different impression on each because of ideas prominent 
and active in mind. 

The Indians called the ships of Columbus " white-winged 
birds," and they named the white man's whiskey "fire- 
water." The writer was sitting in a train on a seat with 
another man traveling in West Texas. A large jack-rabbit 
startled by the train went running out into the prairie. 
Seeing it the man rather excitedly exclaimed, " Look, look, 
at that narrow-gauge mule." You may guess that he was a 
railroad man, for who else would have interpreted the object 
as narrow-gauge? 

A young teacher in a normal school was teaching a lesson 
about Indians to a first-year class in the practice school. 
She was going to teach the idea of the peace pipe. She began 



THE CHILD 83 

by telling them something of Indians making clay pipes to 
smoke, and asked the children how many had seen clay 
pipes. Several hands went up, and one boy said that there 
was one at his house which he could get. As he lived a few 
doors away, he was permitted to go after the pipe, and in a 
few minutes triumphantly returned with a joint of three- 
inch sewer pipe. It was a clay pipe, and he interpreted 
according to his idea of clay pipes. 

The use of the familiar in learning the new is a natural 
tendency or drift of the mind, and this way of taking in the 
new is the process of apperception. This way of looking at 
the process of learning gives the teacher quite a useful cue. 

Our ideas through the law of association seem to group 
themselves into kindred groups. The more familiar these 
groups, the more active are they in the process of taking in 
the new. And the group which arises in mind when the new is 
presented, has been called by Herbart " apperceiving mass." 
The person with the greatest number and variety of possible 
apperceiving masses will be the quickest learner. A man 
with only a few such centers must interpret every new thing 
in a limited way, hence he is rightly called narrow-minded. 

Some applications for teachers. The following applications 
to the work of teaching are pertinent: — 

(1) In teaching the new the teacher must rely upon ideas 
in the minds of the children. If she is going to depend upon 
certain things in their minds, she must make sure these are 
there. They should be called forward, and made familiar. 
This means that we must know children better, especially 
the contents of their minds. We cannot dispense with ideas 
gained by children at home, in play, in previous grades, or 
in any other way. We must encourage the acquisition of a 
full store of material while the children are in the percep- 
tional and curiosity period of early years, for this will insure 
a rich variety of apperceiving material. 



84 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Dr. G. Stanley Hall has written a small pamphlet of sug- 
gestive value to teachers based on studies of " The Contents 
of Children's Minds on Entering School." 

(2) Our new knowledge has its effect on the old, often 
illuminating, extending, making clearer. Proper association 
should be set up for this purpose, and the new firmly welded 
to the old. 

(3) This same process of connecting up the new with the 
old and familiar is but another phase of the doctrine of 
acquired interest. When there is apperception there is inter- 
est. The first headway is secured through instinctive inter- 
ests, and then through proper associations, acquired inter- 
ests are multiplied and extended. Apperception is the key 
to acquired interests. 

(4) This doctrine of the use of the familiar emphasizes 
the principle of beginning geography with home and school 
surroundings, history with local stories, reading with 
familiar words and stories of instinctive interest, nature 
study with near-by material, and connecting up school 
education with community life. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Find more about Rousseau's doctrine of the child. 

2. Why do girls at twelve to fifteen seem to be better students than boys 
of similar age? 

3. What are reasons for much individual teaching? What some values of 
class teaching? 

4. What are the relations of the instincts to teaching? 

5. What use can be made of the collecting interest in teaching geography? 
Nature study? Of the ownership interest in teaching agriculture? 

6. Curiosity is strong in children. Why do we grow indifferent to so many 
things in later life? 

7. What difference between the doctrine of interest and merely interest- 
ing the children when reciting? 

8. How would you treat an already started interest in reading trashy 
stories? 

9. Recall cases of unique apperception of some children. 
10. Find out more about Herbart. 



THE CHILD 85 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Dewey, John. School and Society. (University Chicago Press.) 
Kirkpatrick, E. A. Fundamentals of Child Study. (The Macmillan Com- 
pany.) 

Excellent treatment of instincts. 

McMurry, Chas. General Method. (The Macmillan Company.) 

Treats interest and apperception. 

Rooper, T. G. Apperception, or a Pot of Green Feathers. (C. W. Bardeen.) 
A very interesting story. 

Tanner. Amy E. The Child. (Rand, McNally Co.) 
A good beginner's manual. 

Terman, I. M. Hygiene of the School Child. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Tyler, J. M. Growth and Education. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 

For periods of growth. 



CHAPTER VI 

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 
II. THE RECITATION 

Lessons and recitations. There is some confusion in tlie 
use of the terms, "recitation" and "lesson,'* these often 
being used to mean the same; as, when we speak of the 
" method of the recitation " and '* lesson plans." The latter 
might be called recitation plans. When we use recitation to 
mean the activities of children during a class period, we 
use it in a sense different from the use of lesson in saying to 
children, " study your lesson." According to popular usage 
in America we assign lessons, and we call pupils for a recita- 
tion of lessons. This makes the lesson the subject-matter 
for the recitation. 

Customarily, where one teacher has several grades or 
classes, each class has stated times for coming forward to 
special benches, convenient to the teacher and the black- 
boards. Here the teacher engages the pupils of this class in 
recitation. In this exercise the teacher and pupils come in 
close mental contact, in which pupils are guided, stimulated, 
tested, and exercised in expression, habit-formation, think- 
ing, and application of things learned. Too often this exer- 
cise is held to a narrow purpose, chiefly for testing. 

How to handle recitations in rural schools. In rural 
schools the classes are so many for each teacher that the 
time given to each class for customary recitation is too short. 
Much of the work done at the desks should be treated as 
class exercises, wherein the pupils are guided, tested, stimu- 
lated, and exercised variously by the teacher. On some days, 
instead of calling the whole class forward, the teacher may 



THE RECITATION 87 

use the time in passing from pupil to pupil, inspecting work, 
passing criticism, assisting with difficulties, assigning addi- 
tional work, and thus teaching in the full sense of the word. 
This will be an advantage, for the customary recitation is 
too often mechanical in its attempt to teach in mass, the 
time of many is wasted in explanations for a few, and the 
individual sacrificed. 

The demand is increasing for more individual teaching. 
Formerly there was much more of it in rural schools, every 
pupil working along by himself. Individual teaching, 
greatly enriched, may profitably be restored as an adjunct 
to class teaching. Pupils may be kept working individually 
under guidance, and kept fairly well together in classes. 
After a day's individual exercise at desks, pupils of a class 
may be called forward for the typical recitation together, 
and every member of the class will be better prepared to 
enter into such a recitation with greater understanding and 
profit. There will be more of spirit in such a recitation, since 
pupils will feel prepared and at ease to think and to respond. 
Bright pupils may be given additional work to do at desks, 
yet all kept in the field of the same lesson. Advanced pupils 
may be utilized in helping the primary ones, thus freeing 
the teacher to give more time to pupils needing special 
attention. The additional work or the assistance rendered 
in teaching will be valuable in itseK for the brighter pupils 
who might be kept marking time. There is an old Latin 
proverb which says, " Man, by teaching, learns." 

Varieties of recitation work. This much of method has 
been used by way of preliminary to suggest that there are 
varieties of class exercises. These have generally been 
named in accordance with the aim or purpose of each. Betts 
in The Recitation, an excellent small manual, classifies these 
purposes under three heads, testing, teaching, drilling. The 
class period may be taken up for any one of these purposes, 



88 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

or all three may be used in the one period. Strayer in fhe 
Teaching Process, a fuller and an excellent book, discusses 
seven varieties which he calls lessons: 1. The Drill Lesson. 
2. The Inductive Lesson. 3. The Deductive Lesson. 
4. Lesson for Appreciation. 5. The Study Lesson. 6. The 
Review Lesson. 7. The Recitation Lesson. This limits the 
term, recitation, to the seventh type, which is for the purpose 
of telling what is in the book, testing for facts to be learned, 
and for orderly presentation of such facts or textbook 
material. This holds the term somewhat to the root mean- 
ing of the word " re-cite," to say again or to say back. How- 
ever, in America, we have come to use it in a broader sense, 
and the other varieties have ordinarily been called recita- 
tions, unless exception be noted in the case of the study 
lesson, which, as we have shown, may be used for individual 
recitation preceding a general recitation. Many times a 
part or all of a regular period with the whole class should be 
taken up with the assignment of the next lesson, including 
questions and suggestions as to how to study it. Thus any 
one or more of these seven varieties may be used in the same 
class period. It is important for the teacher to keep in mind 
just which purpose is uppermost at any time, the questions 
and methods being somewhat determined by the end sought. 

The inductive-deductive aim. A few words of explanation 
of induction and of deduction may be needed. 

1, Induction. A httle child sees about the house the ani- 
mal which he later learns to call a dog= At first he has but a 
concrete, individual notion, and his name for it may be 
Rover. The next dog he sees he is likely to call Rover, After 
seeing several dogs and learning the individual names, he 
gets the notion, dog, as a general notion to apply to a class 
or group. Through his senses he acquires many individual 
notions, and little by little he builds up from these his gen- 
eral, or class notions, general truths, principles, and laws. 



THE RECITATION 89 

This process of learning is inductive. The movement is from 
particulars, individuals, concretes to generals and abstracts. 

2. Deduction. After general notions have been obtained, 
these are in turn used in interpreting individual cases which 
arise. A rule of arithmetic may be applied to a number of 
examples coming under it. A miscellaneous lot of examples 
may be given, the fitting rule to be selected and applied. 
Starting with definitions, rules, and general statements, and 
proceeding to particulars which may come under these, is 
proceeding deductively. In much of our past teaching of 
arithmetic, definitions and rules were first learned, then 
examples worked out under these, little or no attempt being 
made to develop the rules. The multiplication table was 
memorized and, through application, made useful. In the 
study of language, definitions and rules of grammar were 
studied and applied in parsing, analysis, and correction of 
false syntax. Geography was pursued through definitions 
and map study. This was mostly deductive procedure, and 
such is teaching and learning through textbooks solely. 

Influence of Pestalozzi and Herbart. It was the influ- 
ence of Pestalozzi which first brought a change in this pro- 
cedure, and insisted that at first the child must naturally 
learn inductively. Language lessons preceding grammar, 
number work with objects and concrete measures, and local 
studies in geography and history, are some results of Pesta- 
lozzian reforms which reached this country through Horace 
Mann and David Page. 

It must be clear to a thoughtful mind that general truths 
and the great body of the world's knowledge were derived 
from particular observations and experiences, but when a 
general truth has once been established it becomes a most 
useful tool of thought. This historical procedure indicates 
the proper order for the child, and the circle of thought is 
not complete without both induction and deduction. It was 



90 TEACHING IN RUEAL SCHOOLS 

Herbart who formulated a scientific teaching-method based 
on this idea. 

The steps of a recitation. This is generally presented as 
the formal steps of the recitation. 

Step 1, Preparation, This grows out of his doctrine of 
apperception. The mind associates the new with related 
experiences already familiar. That this connection between 
the old and the new may be readily made, the ideas already 
in mind should be called up and be ready for service. Previ- 
ous knowledge must be recalled if it is to be used in learning 
the lesson. The pupils must be brought to the proper emo- 
tional attitude towards the new lesson, and this may be done 
through making them conscious of the aim or problem in the 
lesson. This step of preparation will often coincide with the 
assignment of the next lesson. It may occupy a very short 
time, and it may take most of a period. If pupils are to 
master a new lesson, they should know the nature of the 
problem involved, and there should be sure and clear posses- 
sion of the former knowledge needed in the mastery. 

A teacher should not send pupils to a new task without 
making sure the preparation. In rural schools, where but 
little time is spent in ordinary recitation and much time 
spent in study at the desk, the step of preparation is one to 
be c^Lrefully thought of by the teacher, so that pupils may 
really be ready and able to do the work. It is sometimes 
well to have a study period in a subject to follow immedi- 
ately the recitation period where preparation was made, so 
that pupils may work with apperceiving matter fresh in 
mind. 

Step 2, Presentation. This step in inductive teaching puts 
before the class a number of concrete, individual cases, so as 
to make clear the rule, definition, or general idea to be 
learned. Suppose the lesson to be learned is the method of 
adding fractions. 



THE RECITATION 91 

Step 1. How many are 3 pigs + 5 pigs + 2 pigs? 
Step 2. How many are 3 eights + 5 eights + 2 eights? 

How many are 2 fourths + 7 fourths + 3 fourths? 

How many are 1 third + 2 thirds + 1 third? 

Who can write this last one some other way? 

What will the sum be now? 

Rewrite the other examples. 

Step 3, Comparison. In this step the pupils are led to note 
wherein the individual cases are alike so as to observe the 
general idea. In this particular case, they should be led to 
see that in every example the numerators were added but the 
common denominator kept. 

Step Jf.. Generalization. This step calls for a summary or 
statement of the general idea. In the particular problem 
solving, this would be a statement of the rule for adding 
fractions of this kind. 

Step 5. Application. A number of further examples should 
be given for practice in applying this rule. This fifth step is 
deductive, since it proceeds from the generalization to par- 
ticular examples coming under it. Steps 2, 3, and 4 are 
inductive, since they proceed from particular cases to the 
generalization. The fifth step is needed to test and to fix 
through use, hence the complete recitation unit here would 
be inductive-deductive. 

The next problem to raise in the minds of the pupils in 
the above connection would be, *' Suppose the fractions are 
not alike, what can we do then.? " This problem will call for 
the five steps over again in its treatment. 

Applications of the process to school work. These steps 
may be followed in teaching many lessons in any of the fun- 
damental school subjects. In geography the work of water 
and of weather, for instance, should be noted in concrete 
cases. The formation of streams, stream systems, islands, 
capes, ponds, etc., may be illustrated in local geography 



92 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

before these are studied in generalized maps or as defined 
in the book. A few typical cities and river systems should 
be studied in detail. Children may help to gather facts 
about these from geographical readers and other sources. 
Other cities and river systems may be briefly compared 
with the ones studied. 

In language and grammar, particular expressions may be 
selected to present the use of the pronoun for noun; others 
may be selected to illustrate that the verb may express 
present time, past time, future time. These concrete cases 
should precede the generalizations found in definitions and 
rules; then, of course, other sentences given for the applica- 
tion to test and to ^x. 

The critical part in this type of recitation will be the selec- 
tion of such illustrations or examples as will make clear the 
general idea. The illustrations should be sufficient for the 
necessary comparison. The old saying, "one swallow does 
not make a summer," is to emphasize that it is not good to 
generalize from one case. On the other hand, the selections 
should consider economy of time, more especially so for a 
very short recitation period. 

A new topic may be treated by the teacher with the whole 
class through the first four steps, then individual work as- 
signed for application. But in some lessons in history, 
morals, and literature the application must come in later life. 

Limitations of the process. The plan of the five steps is 
one often to be used in teaching something new. However, 
not every topic lends itself to this treatment, and the differ- 
ent steps will vary, as already indicated, in different 
branches. The teacher should not tell too much, should 
lead the children to make their own comparisons, and should 
secure from them their own wording of the rule definition, 
or principle developed. After a while the better formulation 
in the book may be substituted. Though not every topic 



THE RECITATION 93 

can be so developed, and the teacher must tell many things, 
yet it is largely true that inductive teaching is not attempted 
by rural teachers in anything Hke its due proportion. 

The testing aim. In imgraded rural schools less time can 
be had for the recitation period, hence more dependence 
must be put on books and other helps. The testing, or 
reciting aim has thus come to be used more than it deserves, 
yet it must have a prominent place. The use of books is one 
of the things to be learned. Reading and analyzing the 
thought of the book is an excellent training in one kind of 
necessary thinking. There should be testing for facts in the 
lesson, and training in the orderly presentation of these 
when called on to recite. The teacher may, as the quiz pro- 
ceeds, put on the blackboard an orderly topical outhne of 
the lesson, and later, pupils should make their own outlines. 
In this way they are learning to think and to study logically. 

But in executing this aim, the recitation becomes rather 
lifeless if it is purely one of repeating what is in the book. 
The pupils should be held in strict account for what has 
been assigned, yet the teacher should supplement from a 
fund of information all around and about the lesson, and 
thus enrich the textbook, which is generally brief. Pupils 
may be told where to look up additional matter and bring 
this in. Sometimes topics should be assigned individually, 
and each pupil requested to report on his topic, the whole 
class to profit by these reports. Pupils and teacher should 
question the one reporting and thus test the fullness and 
accuracy of the preparation. In history, geography, civics, 
word study, nature study, and agriculture reports may be 
used. Both care and time must be given to the assignment 
of such lessons. Supplementary books and an encycloi^edia 
will be of invaluable service, as will some good magazines. 
It should be kept in mind that one school aim should be 
preparation for practical needs of life in the use of books. 



94 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

magazines, and out-of-door material. The testing aim com- 
bines with others and becomes a teaching aim as well. 

The drilling aim. In the discussion of interest it was 
pointed out that no use of the doctrine of interest would 
ever make drill unnecessary. For facility in the use of arith- 
metical combinations and rules, for spelling and writing 
with ease and accuracy, for reading with ease and good 
voice, for knowing the leading historical dates to hang 
things together, for correct letter forms, and for punctua- 
tion, drill is necessary. The proper ideal should be placed 
before the pupil, then repeated practice will form the habit. 
Repetition is the chief method of drill, and for the above 
results, repetition must be resorted to faithfully. Words 
must be repeated in different lessons of the primer, black- 
board, and chart until recognition at sight is secured. Much 
drill in arithmetical tables is required. The modern school 
is charged by many with the great sin of failure to turn out 
good spellers. We have not space here to argue whether this 
charge is rightfully or wrongfully made. Nevertheless, there 
should be wise drill in spelling, language forms, letter forms, 
and many other things. All of this will be considered more 
at length in Part II. 

But repetition should not be blind, that is, lacking pur- 
pose or attention. A boy may go over and over words to be 
learned, but if his attention is on something else, it profiteth 
nothing. He should be brought to appreciate the object of 
the drill. Then it is worse than waste to drill where drill is 
not necessary. Pick out the stumbling blocks, misspelled 
words, grammatical errors, difficult arithmetical combina- 
tions, — such as the tables of 7's and of 9's, — and drill on 
these. Drill to break up carelessness, and to form accu- 
racy of habits wherever needed. Habit makes skill possi- 
ble, and habit is formed through doing again and again 
until the act becomes second nature. 



THE RECITATION 95 

The reviewing aim. Review may be to help to fix, as in 
drill. It should also be for organization of knowledge into 
larger wholes, thus better relating the parts to each other. 
At first the lessons take up a large subject by piecemeal, 
but in reviewing, the lesson may cover larger parts of the 
subject, and the relations throughout may become much 
clearer. Through connections set up between several lessons, 
through new examples and applications, and through sum- 
maries, new views may be given in reviews. Reviews should 
be frequent and interesting, reaching back as the class pro- 
ceeds further forward. 

Written reviews are essential in furnishing opportunity 
for pupils to summarize and to state briefly and clearly the 
central truths as they see these. Examinations furnish 
stimuli for reviews of other kinds which are necessary to the 
organization of knowledge. Examinations should not count 
so much in promoting as has been the case in many schools, 
yet, rightfully used, examinations, oral and written, may be 
made genuinely helpful to pupils in learning. Consider them 
merely helpful reviews, and even young children will want 
to play at taking them when they begin to write sufficiently. 
Great care should be exercised not to make bugbears of 
examinations; rather have them considered useful reviews. 

The appreciation aim. This aim is uppermost when the 
aesthetic nature is to be developed. It has to do mth the 
appreciation of the beautiful in nature, pictures, sculpture, 
architecture, and literatin-e. In nature there should be 
developed an appreciation of the various types of beauty in 
flower, field, forest, bird and other animal worlds, landscape, 
sky, and all out-of-doors; also an appreciation of the wonder- 
ful creations with marvelous adaptations, suggesting the 
greatness of the Creator. In literature the beauty of expres- 
sion, the choice language, the figures of speech, the har- 
mony of plot, and other sesthetic qualities should be brought 



96 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

to appreciation; also the human element, the conduct of the 
characters, their thoughts and emotions are factors in the 
work for appreciation. The bad should be condemned, the 
good approved, as the children think again the thoughts of 
the masters. In story and history this human element must 
secure appreciation. This will be done if there is sufficient 
detail to make the story or the history graphic, so as to 
appeal to the active imagination. 

In art, pictures will furnish the chief source of material 
for appreciation. Even small pictures, such as the Perry 
Pictures, may be used to advantage, and each year one or 
two larger pictures may be added to the school walls. These 
should not accumulate until too many are on the walls. A 
few choice ones will make a true artistic effect. When new 
ones are added, some may be taken down for a few years, 
thus giving variety with taste. Probably a system of ex- 
change may be worked up with other schools. At times 
these wall pictures should be subjects of lessons for apprecia- 
tion. Sometime it may be well to talk with the whole school 
about a new picture, so that the pupils may be brought really 
to live with that picture in daily admiration and enjoyment. 

The appreciation aim thus enters into work in story, 
reading, literature, history, art, and nature study. Wher- 
ever opportunity offers, this aim should become prominent. 

How to Study Pictures, by W. S, Emery (Prang Educational Company), 
is excellent for teachers. 

The Art-Literature Readers, published by Atkinson, Mentzer & Co., 
Chicago, will be very helpful, if this series can be had for supplementary or 
even library use. 

The study aim. This has in view the teaching how to 
study. These aims overlap at times, as has been seen in 
testing, drilling, and reviewing; also a part of the discussion 
under testing belongs under the study aim. 

Many pupils pass through and out of our schools a^d 



THE RECITATION 97 

never learn to study. This aim has been neglected in nearly 
all schools. Pupils gather from common practice that study- 
ing is merely committing to memory. It should be much 
more than that. It should include, at least, finding out the 
thought and purpose of the lesson, and an intelligent com- 
ment on the same. The best ways of logical thinking should 
be pointed out and habits formed in such thinking. Early 
use of the topical method, even with children's stories, will 
be a beginning. Topical outlines and reviews will aid in 
developing a logical memory, rather than a rote or verbal 
memory. Pupils who would memorize and recite word for 
word should be trained to make topical outlines, and should 
be made to skip about from topic to topic, frequently re- 
viewing in this way. Assignments for reports come in here. 
There should be special lessons covering the use of the dic- 
tionary, encyclopedia, atlas, and library in general. Some- 
times topics for investigation should be given out for pupils 
to find their own sources of information, and report back 
with exact references well listed. Thoroughness or fullness 
of topical discussion should be insisted upon, in accordance 
with the maturity of the child. 

The pupils' methods of study should be watched by the 
teacher when inspecting work at desks. Proper methods and 
habits of study should be aimed at, from the very first, when 
desk work is assigned. The teacher should aid pupils with 
some difficulties, yet caution should be exercised not to help 
overmuch. Self-reliance must be developed, and ambition 
to overcome difficulties encouraged, yet pupils must not be 
left to waste time over difficulties too great, nor be allowed 
to struggle on to the point of discouragement. Sometimes a 
mere hint as to the next step, or a word of encouragement, 
will be all that is necessary. Supervision of desk work is of 
greatest importance, and both firmness and sympathy are 
needed in its exercise. 



98 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Desk work. The chief object of desk work is to keep all 
children at work on the fundamental lessons of the school. 
It should be more than " Busy Work," merely to keep chil- 
dren busy. It may have aims as follows : — 

(1) An extension of lessons already learned or recited, to 
make clearer or broader, or to stimulate further expression 
through drawing, writing, making, or doing. 

(2) Drill in lessons recently recited or presented. 

(3) To awaken apperceptive material, to prepare for 
something new to follow. 

(4) To develop habits of study, for best use of textbooks. 

(5) To work up an assigned lesson for report or recitation. 
Thus desk work should be real school work connected 

with the regular course. In upper grades much desk work 
can be based on text and reference books, hence less exact- 
ing on the teacher. But even here the need is for better 
instruction in the use of books, clearer assignments so that 
pupils may develop logical habits of study, and closer super- 
vision for individual instruction of pupils who have short 
recitation periods in class. 

In the lower grades the problem of materials is one which 
will cause the good teacher much time, labor, and thought. 
But as the months go by the materials will accumulate, and 
some may be used with different groups at different times 
of the year. Some form of duplicator, or mimeograph, a 
supply of manilla paper, and other things already mentioned 
are necessities. 

The desk work should be interesting and should not in- 
volve too much writing; in the first two grades very little 
writing. Drawing, color work, simple compositions with 
illustrative drawings or pictures pasted in, handicrafts, 
number exercises with objects, slips of paper with words 
and sentences, are familiar types of primary desk work. If 
the desk work materials are well selected and smoothly 



THE RECITATION 99 

handled, the directions clear and ample, the work of super- 
vising and correcting will be made easier. But the oversight 
and correction must be done, or pupils will grow idle and 
slovenly. The teacher must take time for it, and here again 
the advanced pupils may be used to assist with primary 
ones. 

Suggestions for primary-grade desk work. Following are 
some suggestions for the primary grades : — 

(1) Cigar boxes for supplies. These are light and of con- 
venient size for individual boxes. There should be a box for 
each child in the first and the second grades. In these boxes 
may be kept envelopes with desk work in reading, number, 
etc., pencils, pens, color box and brushes, scissors, other 
instruments for manual work, and other materials for num- 
ber work, such as grains of corn, pegs, sticks, imitation 
money, etc. Each child should have a twelve-inch rule. A 
compass also will be quite useful. Each box should have its 
owner's name pasted on it, and there should be a definite 
place for each box. If there are no shelves or cases for this 
purpose, a place may be arranged near the teacher's desk. 
Later, the boys, in manual training, may make such. The 
boxes should be distributed in the morning and taken up 
before dismissal. Monitors may be appointed to do this, 
and each child should be held responsible for the care of the 
box during the day and for careful arrangement before eve- 
ning collection. 

(2) Envelopes. The teacher can get a quantity of envel- 
opes at little cost by the hundred. Cards just large enough 
to go in the envelope will be convenient for directions and 
devices for desk work. These cards, with written or printed 
directions thereon, and pieces of manilla or oak-tag paper 
with words, sentences, drawings, number devices, etc., may 
be put in envelopes from day to day for distribution to the 
children that day. There will be envelopes for reading, for 



100 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

number work, for language, and for handicrafts. Drawing 
will be correlated with these, as will writing at first, but 
separate writing slips may be used the second year. 

{3) Charts. Large sheets of manilla paper may be used 
for charts. Black crayon or a rubber pen may be used to 
write and draw exercises on these, or rubber letters to print 
thereon. When needed for use, these may be hung before 
the children by means of clothes-line clasps, or hooks fasten- 
ing to a clothes-line wire stretched along the wall, probably 
along the top of the blackboard, or other convenient place. 
Or a chart post, with hooks for hanging and with floor feet 
to make it stand, may be used for placing the charts before 
the children. The chart should not be too far away or eye 
strain will result. 

{Ji) Planning the work. Each day's work must be planned 
and the materials arranged in envelopes, on the chart, etc., 
before the opening hour. All this may take a great amount 
of time at first, but from month to month, and year to year, 
the material will accumulate, and, if well kept, the selection 
for each day will become easy. Milton Bradley & Co., 
Boston, Massachusetts, will send for the asking a catalogue 
of such material. 

Questioning. Questioning is an art which only experience 
can develop, yet experience does not always develop it 
properly. The experience must be thoughtful and well 
guided. The young teacher should constantly strive to 
become a master in this art. The lazy teacher will be careless 
and unmethodical in questioning, and even some who have 
had experience enough to attempt authorship of textbooks 
will put therein such indefinite questions as, "What about 
witchcraft"? 

(1) Questions should be definite and free from ambiguity, 
so that only one good answer can be given. 

(2) Clearness is a good quality. If the points are clear in 



THE RECITATION 101 

the mind of the teacher, the questions are apt to be clearly 
worded. These should be adapted to the age of the child. 

(3) Questions should be carefully worded, so as not to 
indicate the answer, and, generally, not to be answered by 
yes or no. 

(4) Some questions are merely to test memory or pre- 
paredness. These have a large place in the testing recita- 
tion. Often these should be framed so as to provoke thought. 
Other questions should be given purely as thought-questions. 

(5) The questions to be put to the class should be planned 
beforehand, so as to be connected, orderly, moving smoothly 
from one point to the next, and covering well the lesson. 
The young teacher should block out questions before calling 
the class. These may not be asked exactly as planned, for 
unexpected things will be developed in the recitation, pupils 
will raise questions, and the skilled teacher will always take 
into account the mental attitude of the class. To put aside 
pupils' questions just to continue without break the ques- 
tions planned would be blind teaching. And yet this does 
not argue that a teacher should not prepare a series of ques- 
tions. Planless, aimless questions will always be poor. There 
should be a few questions touching the most important 
points, and these can always be reached, even by round- 
about ways, led by questions from the class. Class questions 
must not be ignored. 

(6) Nearly always the teacher should ask the question, 
then name the pupil to give the answer. This makes for 
better attention, and all get the benefit of the question and 
the reply. 

(7) Rarely should the question be repeated at request of 
the pupil. The fault is mainly of attention. Sometimes, 
however, the fault is in the question, and the pupil may not 
quite comprehend, though attentive. 

(8) Questions should be well distributed over the class to 



102 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

give all the needed opportunity for expression, and to keep 
the whole class attentive and busy. 

Questions should follow one another with sufficient rapid- 
ity to keep up a spirited forward movement. 

(9) Rarely ever should questions be asked from the book. 
The lesson plan well prepared will tend to free the teacher 
from leaning on the book. 

(10) The pupils should be required to give answers in 
good sentences. The answer should not be repeated by the 
teacher, but the attention of the whole class may at times 
be directed to it some other way, for needed emphasis. 
Young teachers must guard against this habit of repeating. 
It is a common habit, easy to fall into, and an excellent illus- 
tration of how unthoughtful experience may go wrong. 
Experience alone does not always make a good teacher. 

Orderly thinking and talldng. With small children the 
answers are necessarily brief. As pupils grow older, they 
should be expected to cover more in an answer. If the lesson 
is chopped up by too many questions, pupils do not form 
habits of orderly thinking and talking. It is much easier to 
go through a lesson if led by questions than if required to 
connect up the points in an orderly way, and thus think the 
lesson through without leaning on question crutches. The 
topical method can come in more as the pupils mature, and 
each question can cover more in scope. This will greatly aid 
in teaching children to study and to express their thoughts. 
But, as indicated previously, questioning must supplement 
topical reports, to make pupils round out the discussion and 
to induce thoughtfulness. And if a pupil memorizes so as 
to repeat too closely the language of the books, pointed 
questions should be speared at him to jump him about, to 
make him think, and to break up his bad habit of using too 
freely the reproductive memory. 

Plans of lessons. We have again and again stressed the 



THE RECITATION lOS 

importance of orderly plans for the month, for the term, and 
for every lesson every day. The oldest and best teachers 
never cease to plan. Subject-matter is changing, new books 
come into use, and fresh matter by way of examples and 
illustrations should each year be brought in even with the 
same old books. 

(1) The first step in planning is to become familiar with 
the subject to be taught. An outline of the chief points in 
the lesson should then be made out in natural order. Notes 
should be added under each point as to illustrations and 
correlations. 

(2) Suggestive questions should be blocked out, the most 
important of these marked for connecting Hnks and for 
emphasis. 

(3) A list of material to be used should be made out. The 
teacher should see that this material is ready, and think out 
exactly how it is to be used. This will include objects for 
number work, primary reading, nature study, pictures for 
illustration, passages in other books marked to be read, extra 
assignments for the quick pupils, charts, maps, and all such. 

(4) Every plan should consider time for summarizing the 
main points, and for assignment of the next lesson. Full 
time must be given in assigning new work. Pupils must 
understand the aim of this work, just what is expected of 
them, and directions be given for doing the work. Time 
must be taken to make clear the aim and to arouse interest 
in its accomplishment. The class may then be sent to do the 
work. Rarely ever should the assignment be merely, " Get 
the next lesson." 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Take some topic to be taught in history and write out what you would 
do or say under each one of the five steps. Likewise for some topic in 
arithmetic. 



104 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

2. Recall which of the teaching aims was mostly used by your teachers 
when you were in the elementary school. 

3. What are the objections to repeating a question? To repeating answers 
after pupils? 

4. When should the work of the preparatory step be done, at the close of 
a recitation or at the beginning? When may this vary? 

5. Why is well-planned desk work of so great importance in rural schools? 

6. How can you keep the brighter pupils at work while the duller ones 
have time to master a lesson? 

7. To what extent will you permit pupils to work in groups and assist one 
another? 

8. Find out more about Horace Mann. 



BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Betts, G. H. The Recitation. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Earhart, Lida B. Types of Teaching. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Earhart, Lida B. Teaching Children to Study. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Hall, John. The Question as a Factor in Teaching. (Houghton Mifflin 
Company.) 

Especially full treatment in teaching the story. 

Jones, Olive M. Teaching How to Study. (The Macmillan Company.) 

This is good for desk- work suggestions. 
McMurry, Chas. Method of the Recitation. (The Macmillan Company.) 
McMurry, Frank. How to Study. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 

An excellent book for teachers' use. 

Wilson, H. B. and G. M. Motivation of School Work. (Houghton Mifflin 
Company.) 



CHAPTER VII 

DISCIPLINE 

Discipline is the feature of the school which first puts 
the young teacher on trial. Experience may count for the 
most in matters of discipline, and it is well for all teachers to 
garner from the experience of others. In actual class instruc- 
tion there may be much faulty work done without bringing 
adverse criticism, for, while not many people can judge 
teaching processes, nearly every one thinks he is a judge of 
school discipline. Even the children will scent quickly the 
disciplinary weakness of a teacher. Self-confidence will go 
far in putting a beginning teacher on her feet in discipline, 
as well as in class instruction. Previous study of the princi- 
ples of school management, of the records of the school, and 
of the peculiarities of its people will help to overcome tim- 
idity or hesitancy and contribute to the firmer grasp of 
confidence. 



I. General Purpose 

Discipline in the school has for its purpose the necessary 
adjustments to preserve harmony. Discipline in the child 
has for its purpose the harmony of life. It is more than fault 
finding; it is finding and developing the good, and substitut- 
ing better for the worse which may have crept into the 
child's disposition through heredity or early environment. 
There is much that is natively good in every child. Rous- 
seau maintained that the child is born with tendencies 
entirely good, that everything fresh from the hands of the 
Creator is good, but in the hands of man everything degen- 



106 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

erates. Earlier theology had insisted that the child is born 
totally depraved, and that we must deny and crush out all 
natural tendencies. These theories represent the extremes 
of the pendulum. The weight of scientific evidence seems to 
place the happy mean nearer to the claim of Rousseau, yet 
in every child's nature there are contradictions, elements at 
war with each other. Development should bring these ele- 
ments into harmony with the good, the kingly element. 

This we do know, that whatever is implanted will have a 
natural tendency to grow. Mental and moral vigor grows 
like the body grows, in an irregular way or by fits and starts. 
Variableness must be expected in every growing child. 
Steadiness in high purposes should be the goal of develop- 
ment. The teacher and the school must set and exemplify 
the highest standards of life, and the highest function of dis- 
cipline is the development of ideals corresponding to these 
standards and the reduction of these to practice in so far as 
the fife of the school will permit. 



II. More Specific Purposes 

The common notion of the function of school discipline is 
that of good order, so that the work of the school may not 
be hindered. This view, taken alone, would imply that disci- 
pline is an incidental evil, and that the chief work of the 
school is something apart. Good order is necessary that the 
work of the school may proceed, and yet discipline is to 
reach certain essentials in the proper development of the 
child. The preceding topic treating general purposes aims to 
emphasize a function in common with all phases of education. 

Among certain aims, one to be singled out for emphasis is 
the preparation of pupils for life in organized adult society. 
Practical teaching may aim at successful earning of a living; 
practical discipline should aim at successful participation in 



DISCIPLINE 107 

the best life of the community. This will develop individual 
initiative, yet inhibit tendencies inconsistent with social 
welfare in group life. Democracy stands for freedom of the 
individual, yet when the exercise of that freedom interferes 
with the freedom and happiness of others, there must be 
checks for the good of all. The child is a natural individual- 
ist, and must gradually learn and be trained into the regu- 
lations of the social order. This includes all social regula- 
tions, from manners and customs to morality and the laws 
of the land. The playground again offers opportunity here, 
hence its place as a necessary part of the equipment of the 
school. Social and moral training enter as factors in school 
disciphne. 

Another purpose to stress as a corollary under the preced- 
ing one is the gradual development of all self-control. The 
immediate rather than the remote at first dominates the 
child. It would rather take the nickel for candy to-day than 
the promised thousands some years ahead. The value of 
remote ends must be impressed, the child brought gradu- 
ally to the power and the wilHngness to sacrifice the pleas- 
ure of the moment for the higher good to follow, and thus 
come to realize what it means to sacrifice the lower, baser 
self for the higher, spiritual self iu which alone can harmony 
of life be found. 

This broader notion of discipline calls for its exercise in 
such a way as to make it educative. The methods of doing 
this, like methods of instruction, should be progressively 
adapted to the different stages of child growth. 



III. General Methods in Discipline 

Following the order of development of government in 
the race we should begin with absolute monarchy, and 
gradually move towards ideal democracy. The first type 



108 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

of school government then would rest upon the teacher as 
monarch. 

The teacher as monarch. This method long held sway 
over the school, and it still has its place, modified by modern 
ideals. The harsh, unreasonable discipline of the past is not 
to be repeated, yet the teacher is in loco parentis, and also 
an authorized community officer of law and order in the 
school community. The absolute authority of the teacher is 
the simplest starting-point in discipline of young school- 
children, and good order must be grounded in this authority. 
Before the age of discretion or rational self -direction, chil- 
dren expect to be told exactly what to do and expect punish- 
ment for disobedience. They sometimes come and ask to be 
punished for an offense. They then feel that they have paid 
the price and so have relieved their consciences. 

If habits thus formed are rational, they are anchors for 
the child as he grows older and begins to think for himself. 

The exercise of this method, however, is not so simple as 
it may seem, Some children enter school without having 
formed the habits expected of them at that age. They may 
be the children who have been under little restraint, — 
spoiled or neglected children, — who must be placed under 
rather strict authority until they catch up with their age in 
school habits. They may be children who have been over- 
disciplined and are apt to turn liberty into license through 
misconception of school life. 

In addition to the above, cases arise with children who 
have formed bad habits, and who may defy authority or 
disobey so willfully that speedy and condign punishment is 
necessary to check such behavior, and also necessary for 
good effect on public opinion in the school and in the com- 
munity. The danger in the use of this method lies in its 
extreme application, as of old when the teacher was task- 
master and tyrant. This will breed a spirit of opposition to 



DISCIPLINE 109 

authority which rather prevents the substitution of other 
methods as the pupils develop. Tasks, punishments, and all 
absolute authority must be reasona^ )le and timely. 

The dominating personality. There is probably another 
phase of the teacher's absolute sway, due to a peculiar per- 
sonality easily giving the teacher a dominating personal 
influence. Such a personality finds discipline easy and its 
possessor may boast that " Johnny " — the terror of previ- 
ous teachers — "gives me no trouble." Such teachers are 
generally the ones who are considered the born ones. They 
have a very useful power which may do much to smooth 
their professional pathway. 

But there are dangers in the use of this method. The 
useful power is sometimes mere personal magnetism which 
produces a state of hypnotism. Hypnotism may be justifi- 
able in treatment of extreme cases, but it is very generally 
discredited as dangerous in its effects on will power. Re- 
move pupils from the spell of this teacher, and they may go 
to pieces under the next teacher, who ordinarily may be 
good. Like tyranny, this dominating personality may pre- 
vent the gradual substitution of better methods as pupils 
advance. The teachers who depend entirely upon personal 
influence are apt to be blind to the principles of character 
development and scorn other methods than their own. 
Wisely used it is the mildest form of absolute sway of 
teacher over pupils, and it should gradually emancipate its 
subjects for individual freedom and initiative of rational 
self-control. 

Discipline through interest. This method secures disci- 
pline through vitalizing the school work, and introducing 
many valuable studies and activities to keep pupils inter- 
ested and busy. The doctrine of interest appHes here, and 
the introduction of nature study, drawing, story, literature, 
agriculture, manual training and domestic science, along 



110 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

with the relating of the common branches to rural-Hfe 
needs, will have a very remarkable effect upon discipline. 
Many a school is orderly because it is interested and busy; 
many a school is disorderly because it is neither. 

Discipline through self-interest. This is a modified phase 
of interest wherein appeals are made to the advantages 
accruing to the pupil. Because of failure to see such advan- 
tages many pupils drop out of school too early or become 
unruly in school. Some of these advantages which may be 
pointed out are the following: — 

(i) The development of skill. The desire to become skillful 
may be aroused by the appeal, if the value of skill is appre- 
ciated. The difference between skilled and unskilled workers 
may illustrate. This appeal may be useful in drill work, 
which otherwise may repel many who are blind to the piu*- 
poses of drill. 

(2) Mental power. Nearly every pupil will desire to pos- 
sess a good brain, with its accompanying power to think, to 
invent, and to lead. 

(3) Financial or industrial success. The need of education 
for this in the modern age may be shown. The day of great 
self-made men is largely past. Of course the work must 
relate itseff to life so that the pupils may appreciate this 
appeal. And the money values in scientific farming can be 
readily shown by results cited. 

(J/) The development of appreciation. It should be pointed 
out how much of future happiness or misery depends upon 
this. 

The method of self-interest sets up more remote ends to 
substitute for immediate desires. The danger in it lies in the 
direction of selfishness and material welfare as supreme. This 
danger will arise if this method is unduly stressed and made 
final. 

Discipline through awakening higher ambitions. This 



DISCIPLINE 111 

method will aim to create a desire to do something worth 
w^hile, to be somebody in the w^orld, and to contribute to the 
best life and happiness of the school, the community, and 
the world. These ambitions will furnish the antidote for the 
shortcomings of previous methods. Morality, with its gen- 
eralized ideals and the ideals embodied in characters of lit- 
erature and history, may be used to appeal to and to dom- 
inate the highest nature of each child. Thus may the better 
selves be brought to rule the lower, imperfect selves, and 
school discipline be made to contribute to the highest 
product of the school. 

If these methods are progressive from first to last, the 
lower giving away repeatedly to the higher, the first method 
reduced to the minimum and the last magnified, school dis- 
cipline will be truly educative. Pupils will thus be brought 
to realize the values of the restraints and the necessity of 
the tasks in the preparation for life. Also the teacher will 
come to be recognized as a helper toward great achieve- 
ments and not looked upon as the tyrant and taskmaster of 
olden times. 

IV. DisciPLiNABY Measures 

Putting together in a new way our scheme for school dis- 
cipline, the following analysis may show in a better way the 
measures which may be employed : — 

1. Preventive Measures 

Good organization and instruction. The very best preven- 
tives are good organization and good teaching. As set forth 
under school organization, good equipment, proper seating 
of pupils, ventilation and lighting, a well-balanced program 
for work and recreation, play organized, naturalness in 
moving about the room, and pupils drawn into assistance 



in TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

in teaching and order are all factors in preventing cases of 
discipline. 

Under good teaching may be included the teachers' know- 
ledge of subjects, skill or command of the technique of 
teaching, and the spirit of cooperation aroused with seK- 
activity provoked on the part of the pupils. Pupils are in- 
spired to greater confidence in the teacher who is a master 
of the subjects, with a fund of contributory knowledge. 

Everybody, young or old, admires skill in doing. People 
will stop to watch a sign-painter, a rope-walker, or any 
executioner of the commonest kind of work, if the work is 
being skillfully done. The teacher who shows skill in every- 
thing connected with the work of the school will command 
admiration greatly to the aid of discipline. Then if the work 
of the school draws pupils into cooperation in management, 
they are apt to resent any interruption or distm-bance on the 
part of one of their number. 

Furthermore, good teaching arouses greater interest, 
which in turn is a great preventive in discipline. 

Repression vs. expression. Formerly school government 
was one of repression. If a pupil was caught looking out of 
the window he was called to books summarily, and if caught 
drawing pictures he might expect to have his ears boxed. 
" Absolutely still " was the order. But child nature is better 
understood now, and attempts to force attention that way 
are supplanted by other methods, chief of which is that vital- 
ized teaching which builds permanent interests. Disorder 
cannot thrive with enthusiastic, well-directed teaching 
which keeps children busy at profitable work, nor can order 
thrive with opposite conditions. This may be considered 
the first rule of order. 

Naturally the attention of children is easily distracted. 
The teacher must guard against these distractions, both to 
prevent and remove them. Certain cronies should not sit 



DISaPLINE 113 

together, for the temptation is always strong to talk over 
mutual experiences. Interruptions to ask the teacher some- 
thing during recitation, to get a drink of water, or to leave 
the room should not be permitted. It is a good plan to have 
an open few minutes nearly every half -hour, when pupils 
may whisper about lessons and may move about as needed. 
This is a helpful relaxation. The hour and a half between 
regular recesses is too long for severe application to study. 
The period of relaxation will give opportunity to admit 
fresh air, will justify good habits of study between periods, 
and will help to remove many distractions. 

Mere suppression of the natural tendencies of the young 
is the poorest method of discipline. These tendencies must 
be properly directed, and superb teaching is a first factor of 
this direction. Good school organization is a second factor 
which may include necessary equipment for keeping pupils 
at work. 

2, Constructive Measures 

Forming good habits. Among constructive measures the 
formation of good habits of working and acting stands first. 
Among these the more important are : — 

1, Promptness. In business lack of promptness is not 
tolerated. Men must meet engagements and attend to busi- 
ness on time. Children should learn the value of this in 
every duty, and practice should form habit. There should 
be no lagging, no straggling when classes or school is called. 
Regular attendance every day and punctuality every morn- 
ing should be stressed. The teacher also must be prompt in 
all matters. Reports sent to parents and an honor roll of 
promptness may be used as incentives. 

2. Industry. Pupils should be brought to appreciate the 
value of industry, and urged on to form the industrious 
habit. The opposing vices, laziness and idleness, are not to 



114 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

be tolerated in school or later life. All pupils must be re- 
quired to perform the expected tasks. Interest will keep 
pupils busy, but they must also face in school and in after 
life many tasks not so interesting, hence they must be 
trained not to shirk duty. Genuine industry is to be found 
where there is devotion to one's own work. The best training 
in it will come through assignment of individual work. Here 
again the rural school should have the advantage, for rural 
children generally get home training in individual chores, 
and the school can follow this up with individual assign- 
ments for daily recitations, for school or home garden- 
ing, agriculture, home economics, school fairs or exhibits, 
special-day programs, manual arts, etc. 

3. Neatness and order. Beginning with first-year pupils, 
neatness and cleanliness of person and dress should be looked 
after. Desks and books should be kept clean and in order, a 
place for everything. School work must be neat. Slovenly 
work should never find place in school exhibits, and such 
exhibits may serve as strong incentives to neat and orderly 
work. 

^. Self-control. This very valuable habit may receive 
attention in many directions. There are two valuable les- 
sons for children to learn: first, that there are times when 
they must keep silence; and second, they must respect the 
rights of others. Both are involved in keeping silence in 
school. This need not be the pin-drop order of repressed 
silence. There may be a necessary hum of industry and a 
naturalness of moving about, yet there should be a degree 
of silence not to distract attention and thus to interfere with 
others as well as with themselves. Keeping pupils from 
whispering and other unnecessary communication is to 
enable the school to do its work, and it is also a training in 
seK-control. Let there be times for asking about the lesson, 
for getting a drink of water, for leaving the room, for any- 



DISCIPLINE 115 

thing else which might be an interference, and train pupils 
to wait the proper time. 

Control of the tongue and the temper may be inculcated 
as a matter of good breeding. The tongue is the unruly 
member and, if restrained, the temper will follow suit. The 
good-breeding manifest in it will appeal to most pupils. 
Gossiping, tale-bearing to cause trouble, saying unkind 
things to or about the others, — all should be roundly cen- 
sured as ill-bred. Has it not been said, " He who ruleth his 
tongue is greater than he who conquereth a city." 

6, Politeness. "Politeness is the virtue of civilization," 
and true politeness is the flower of good breeding. There is 
the spirit of politeness that is unselfishness, and there is the 
form of politeness that is outward behavior. Since expres- 
sion deepens impression, the outward acts of politeness will 
strengthen the true spirit. The Chinese claim to be the most 
polite people of the world, and they are admirably polite. 
So are the Japanese. The American young people are 
accused of being excessively impolite, especially with respect 
to older people and people in authority, wherein the Chinese 
excel. The English opinion of Americans is that they are 
shrewd, but that they have very poor manners. 

Without comment, the following are mentioned for atten- 
tion in inculcating forms of politeness: Table manners, 
talking manners, when to say "Pardon me," when and how 
to give place to others, hfting the hat, respect for elders, 
treatment of visitors, introductions, behavior in public 
places, respect for law and those in authority. 

Creating a wholesome school spirit or atmosphere. The 
spirit of the school makes for its life and order. In the past 
there has been too much of the attitude of teacher and pupils 
setting themselves over against each other as rather antag- 
onistic. The teacher was policeman, and the children watch- 
ful of opportunity to make mischief. The modern concep- 



116 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

tion calls for a new school spirit which manifests itseK in 
"good order, courteous behavior, and aggressive industry." 

This subtle school spirit is a complex product into which 
the community, the pupils, and the teacher enter as factors. 
Upon going to a new school, a teacher finds a spirit or atmos- 
phere which is an inheritance from past sessions. If this is 
a good spirit, happy should that teacher be. If it is a spirit 
of indifference, of no commimity cooperation, of no pupil- 
teacher friendly helpfulness, of teacher-baiting propensities, 
or of other undesirable factors, the teacher must set to work 
to destroy the old spirit through the creation of the ideal 
one. 

The teacher must first win the respect of the pupils. The 
school must be taken hold of with firm hand, good organiza- 
tion effected the first day, work started off briskly, a spirit 
of friendly helpfulness manifested by the teacher, and some- 
thing of the plans for the session explained so as to appear 
to take the pupils into confidence. Some teachers can 
quickly attain this respect; others must achieve more slowly. 
But if the teacher's heart is right and she is capable, this 
respect can be attained. 

Reconstructing a school community. If the surroundings 
are not such as to make the pupils proud of their school, 
the groimds bare, the building unattractive, the equipment 
poor, the pupils must be interested in righting things. Take 
part of a day off to clean up the yard, start some flowers 
and vines, tidy up the interior, and make things comfortable 
with a promise of the beautiful. If a meeting can be had to 
accomplish something of this before opening school, so 
much the better. There will be plenty more to be done. Get 
the pupils to suggest and to help make out a list of needs to 
lay before the trustees. Make pupils allies in reconstructing 
the environment and in enlisting the trustees. 

By the end of the first month, get up a special-day pro- 



DISCIPLINE 117 

gram, have some work of pupils ready to exhibit about the 
room, have an entertaining story to tell, have pupils read, 
sing and tell stories, or do anything you find out they can 
do to contribute to a good program. Then send special 
invitations, see people personally, and do anything suggest- 
ing itself to induce parents and others in the community to 
come out. Ask the minister or the county superintendent 
to talk ten or fifteen minutes on the spirit of cooperation 
and the needs of the school. The teacher may supplement 
what is said of these needs. The aim is to win the respect 
and stir up the pride of the community. Repeat the occa- 
sions to get the parents out, and soon there may be a com- 
munity spirit which will yield rich fruit. 

All this time from the very first the work of the school 
must be vitalized through the introduction of new subjects 
and relating of all to rural life, as has been suggested before. 
This will contribute greatly to the new school spirit by fur- 
nishing new incentives and inspiring earnestness, happiness, 
and joy in work and play. Then, as it is possible, add to 
the playground equipment, the hbrary, the beauty of the 
groimds and buildings, and the equipment generally. Rally 
the pupils to prepare for the yearly contests and exhibits, 
the county school fair, or the district meet, to win a good 
name for. their school, and the tonic of enthusiasm will 
bring about a working unity which will manifest itself in a 
school spirit of rare value, a spirit of happiness, obedience, 
loyalty, earnest work, and good vnW. Such a school will 
become almost self -disciplining and a joy to the teacher. 

If the school is a consolidated one, the procedure is much 
the same, the principal and teachers planning jointly the 
campaign and the programs for special days. 

Use of incentives. Among the more common and more 
easily used incentives to work and good habits may be men- 
tioned : — 



118 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

1. Prizes, A common incentive of the past was the offer- 
ing of prizes. It is now generally conceded that the offering 
of scholarships or general excellence prizes, which will result 
in a contest between the few best pupils only, is not good. 
The stimulation needs to be applied to the inactive and the 
slower ones, and prizes of the older sort are often taken by 
the gifted pupils with ease. It seems that prizes for best 
results in making certain handicraft articles, in cooking, 
sewing, poultry-raising, agricultural activities, and the like, 
are fairer in the opportunity for all to compete on equal 
grounds. 

2. Standards of excellence. When the distinction offered 
is open to all alike, so that the winning by one will not mean 
the loss by others, the incentive is better for character build- 
ing. An honor roll for those who conform to standards set 
up is an illustration. There may be weekly and monthly 
honor rolls. One plan is to place the rolls in some prominent 
part of the schoolroom for a specified time, and to change 
weekly and monthly. Opposite each name may be a black 
star for good results of work, say eighty per cent or over, a 
red star for excellence of deportment, and a blue star for 
application and improvement. Other stars might be used, 
say one for attendance. Another plan is the selection and 
display of good work. Wires or cords along the walls may 
be used for this display, the papers, drawings, spelling slips, 
maps, compositions, etc., may be hung to these by clasps or 
clothes-pins. The best of these will be used for display on 
special school occasions. 

In this plan, standards of achievement can be set up as in 
athletic records, and ambition stimulated to beat the records. 
A pupil may thus rival himself for progress. Special men- 
tion of those who make the most progress can be made. 

3. Group rivalry. Group rivalry is often wholesome. This 
is true in games when one side plays against another. It is 



DISCIPLINE 119 

the same in spelling bees. Dividing a class into sections and 
the school into camps in other work may be used to same 
advantage, thus appealing to wholesome emulation. 

If.. School reports. Reports sent to parents, monthly or 
oftener, noting scholarship, attendance, application, and 
deportment, are necessary in keeping parents in touch with 
what children are doing, and these serve as incentives when 
wisely used. The danger has been in making too much of 
marks in themselves. 

5. Appeal to personal gain. The appeals to personal gain 
may be in the nature of appeals stressing the necessity of 
preparation for success in life, and showing the need in life 
for everything taught in school. There may be the appeal to 
do those things which will enable them to get on in the world, 
and also the appeal to cultivate those traits which will enable 
them to be the worthy people of the world. These appeals 
are for self -improvement in the development of abilities and 
in the development of character. 

The lower and simpler incentives must be used with 
younger children, but the lower should be replaced by higher 
as children develop. 

Moral training. The public school must aim to train good 
citizens, and morality is the foundation of all society. The 
supreme business of any citizen is to moralize his life and the 
life of his state, hence, the chief aim of the school should be 
the development of moral character. Moral development 
should transcend intellectual. What one knows and what 
one can do are secondary to what one is. The great question 
is, what are you becoming. This involves religion as well as 
morals. In France, England, and Japan, this phase of school 
work has been reduced to a better system than is found in 
any State in the United States. 

One great trouble is that it is more difficult to reduce 
moral teaching to definite procedure, as, for example, in 



120 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

science or history teaching, yet far more can be done to 
organize a system of moral instruction than has been the 
practice. 

Methods in moral instruction. One principle of procedure 
which seems to be well established is that this instruction 
should mainly be by an indirect method, and not by direct 
preaching or instruction, as in arithmetic. An excellent 
method of introducing the child to the various virtues and 
vices, with their rewards and punishments, is by means of 
the great stories, such as fairy tales, fables, allegories, and 
lives of heroes and heroines in history and literature. This 
method has many advantages. It will permit and suggest a 
graded system adapted to the ages of children, and selected 
to introduce many virtues. It may so appeal to the child's 
instincts and interests as to sink into his receptive heart. 
It can reach the emotional life as direct instruction can never 
do. It can depict the whole round of conduct, showing the 
swift punishment of bad conduct and the immediate reward 
of good conduct, whereas in real life the end may not be 
seen. It can leave the child to do his own moralizing, and 
we should not moralize too directly with him. 

To carry out this method, the teacher must have a series 
of stories to tell, and the children should be provided with 
the proper reading matter, and their reading directed. 
Religious virtues, such as reverence and faith, can well be 
included. Moral training need not be divorced from religion, 
yet everything sectarian can be avoided.^ 

^ One of the best graded selections of most excellent matter is, "The 
Golden Rule Series," published by Houghton Mifflin Company, of Boston. 
This is a series of six books, which may be used as supplementary readers 
in grades three to eight, and from which teachers may select stories and 
also assign stories to children to tell to the school, or to those assembled for 
special-day programs. This series should be in the school library. The 
authors of this series, Sneath and Hodges, have written an excellent manual 
for teachers, which is a good book for study and reading-circle discussion. 
It is published by the same company. This book gives a fuller list of stories. 



DISCIPLINE 121 

Through the hygiene and physiology of the bodily life, 
and through talks on various topics, morality may be taught. 
There is a direct relation between good health and sound 
morals. Proper eating, drinking, breathing, sleeping, clean- 
liness, tidiness, exercise, courage, and temperance have 
moral values. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost. 

Through natural science we face a great Creator of all 
things whose wisdom is manifested, whose laws we study 
and obey, and whose laws in the moral and spiritual world 
are just as binding and as wise as in the physical world. 

Moral forces of importance. In addition to the foregoing 
fields of moral instruction there are forces we should con- 
sider because of their great moral influence. Chief of these 
moral influences are play, work, art, and the social atmos- 
phere. 

The school offers the best opportunity for rural children 
to congregate for play, and for the best supervision of play. 
It also offers the best opportunity for the larger, freer asso- 
ciation of rural children, and "school occasions" may be 
devised to meet many social needs with the social atmosphere 
at its best. 

Not only play but work has a most wholesome moral influ- 
ence. All play and no work will make Jack a shiftless fellow. 
The best way to bring children to the fullest appreciation 
of work is through having them work so as to contribute 
helpfully to the life about them. This spirit of helpfulness 
is a superb virtue. Children come to a period when they 
like to do things like grown folks. The most desirable work 
for children is found in and about the farm home and in 
connection with rural life. 

In the school, manual training and school gardens are 
needed to furnish means for educative, creative work. The 
household arts are especially valuable for the girls. Then 
the pupils must be held steadily to the accomplishment of 



122 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

school work, especially in drill work and in those subjects 
of study not so attractive. The work of boys and girls' clubs, 
of home-making industries, and of home agriculture should 
be stimulated and partly directed in school, reports of these 
made, and results exhibited at school fairs. 

Thus it may be seen that practically all school work and 
school life are essentially ethical in their true bearings. That 
which has gone before, especially the discussion as to 
"Forming Good Habits," and that which follows, especially 
the consideration of " Corrective Measures," are phases of 
this topic, moral education. 

5. Corrective measures 

Some punishment at times necessary. No matter how 
complete our scheme of preventive and constructive disci- 
pline, some corrective discipline must come in to help the 
child over his mistakes and bring him to a willing response. 
It is similar to medicine for the body. After a while we may 
so care for health in better ways that medicine will have but 
a small part to play. Just so with the regulation of conduct. 
Punishments may be reduced to a decreasing minimum, but 
for the present we must include these as corrective measures. 
A bad child is a diseased member of the school. A diseased 
member, say a finger, may be treated for a cm-e, or in ex- 
treme cases, where it may threaten the whole body with its 
infection, it must be amputated. Likewise punishment 
should keep in mind that it is to bring the child back to 
mental and moral health. Despairing a cure and the school 
being contaminated, expulsion or sentence to a special 
school is the final resort for such children. 

Even to a greater extent than teaching, punishment must 
be individualistic. We must first diagnose the trouble with 
each case for punishment, and then prescribe as a wise 
physician. What will cure a sensitive child may have little 



DISCIPLINE 123 

effect on a callous or stubborn one. A little sympathy, 
understanding, and trust may go further than a whipping 
with an apparently hardened case who is accustomed to 
cuffs and blows at home. This does not mean that there can 
be no system, no guiding principles. 

Guiding principles in punishment. There are first the 
general aims : — 

(1) The correction of the fault and the cure of the faulty 
tendency. 

(2) The protection and preservation of the school, in- 
eluding the rights of others. 

There are certain things to bear in mind in selecting the 
punishment: — 

(1) Following in part Herbert Spencer's theory, it should, 
where practicable, be the natural punishment of conse- 
quences logically flowing from the fault. 

(2) Almost as a corollary of the preceding, the correction 
should seek to emphasize the virtue of which the fault is 
the opposite. 

If the fault is one of littering the floor about his desk, he 
should be cautioned again as to neatness and requested to 
clean up the litter. If he says it was put there by some one 
else, and he does not know by whom, he must still clean it 
up, since he shares in the responsibility of keeping the school. 
This sharing of responsibility is the virtue to be stressed. It 
is partly his duty to find out the offender. 

Deprivation of a privilege is a natural consequence of the 
abuse of the privilege, such as playing or reciting with 
others, sitting in any part of the room, or carrying a pocket 
knife. The extreme case would be to deprive the child of all 
the privileges of the school, which would be expulsion or 
removal to another school. 

This punishment of consequences has its limitations and 
cannot always be made practicable, yet it is often good, and 



lU TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

makes a rational appeal to the child. He can often thus be 
made to see that he brought the punishment on himself. 

(3) Punishment should not be too severe nor too mild in 
proportion to the offense. It must be effective. It is better 
to try mild measures first, but if these are not effective, more 
severe ones should be used. 

It may be here added that more depends upon the cer- 
tainty than upon the severity of punishments. If the teacher 
is lax in discipline or moody therein, some days severe and 
other days overlooking offenses, the offenses will multiply, 
for children will take their chances on escape. 

One other point may be added. Formal standards and 
punishments are not the most effective. There should be 
flexibility and variety of discipline, not only to adapt to the 
varied child dispositions, but for the sake of the effect of 
the unexpected at times. The fertility of the teacher in 
devising new yet effective corrections will count here. Yet 
these variations from some rational system should not be 
such as to merit any hue and cry of partiality nor show lack 
of firmness. 

Some school faults, and how to handle them. Probably 
it is worth while here to forecast some of the common faults 
to expect. Forewarned is forearmed against these. Unex- 
pected offenses will appear, yet there are certain common 
ones always to be expected. It is difficult to classify these 
in any valuable way, and the following grouping is used 
merely for convenience. 

1. Tattling, gossiping, lawlessness, vandalism, shielding 
the guilty, impudence, rudeness. 

These are generally due to faulty training, wrong ideals, 
or lack of ideals. Reproof should first be tried. What seems 
to be impudence or rudeness may not be intentionally so, 
since the offenders know no better manners. They should 
be reminded of the fault, made conscious of it as a fault. 



DISCIPLINE 125 

The value to them of courtesy and gentle manners should 
be impressed, not only in general lessons to all but in private 
interviews. Tattling and gossiping can be treated in the 
same way. Impress that speaking evil of others is unkind, 
and that it has an undesirable effect on the speaker's char- 
acter. Base many lessons on the scripture, "Whatsoever 
things are true, — honest, — just, — pure, — lovely, of 
good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise 
think on these things." 

Lawlessness and vandalism are more serious, yet these 
are so common with Americans that false ideals as to public 
property must exist in the public mind outside the school. 
If cutting or defacing is done with a knife, the boy should be 
deprived of the privilege of keeping the knife. If damage 
done can be undone, a broken window restored, marks 
cleaned off, or restitution made in any way, this should be 
done, and, if deemed necessary, additional punishment may 
be given. The lesson of common responsibility for law and 
order and for the care of public property must be taught. 

This is the lesson needed in the case of shielding the guilty. 
In the laws of the land, one who shields the guilty is adjudged 
guilty. A sheriff or officer of the law can call on any man to 
assist him, and the man is duty bound to do so. When peo- 
ple who know of evil doing are called before the proper 
authorities and asked questions they are duty bound to 
tell the truth. Young people are apt to have false ideals 
here. They have notions of group loyalty and of tattling. 
They should be brought to realize their common respon- 
sibility in the school community, their duty similar to the 
duty of grown people in the community, and when they are 
questioned by the teacher or school committee they should 
tell the truth. This is different from tattling. If punishment 
is necessary to get a boy to tell the truth, it is generally 
better to hold the whole group responsible, at the same time 



126 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

pointing out that the guilty should play fair with his fel- 
lows. It is not fair play to let the innocent suffer for the 
guilty. Justice and fair play between pupil and pupil is the 
only high and honorable type of group loyalty. A good 
reputation is highly to be valued, hence a boy should not 
appear to be a coward or mean to his fellows, but own up to 
his own doings in a brave way. Also in plays and games, 
and in school work generally, cheating is not fair play. 

As early as practicable it will be well for the teacher to 
give the school a platform, somewhat as follows: — 

A School-Conduct Platform 

1. No person has a right to behave so as to interfere with the 
proper rights, happiness, or welfare of others. This is true of 
pupils. 

2. It is the duty of society to punish wrong doers. Such is also the 
duty of the school. 

3. The members of the school, as members of society, should aid 
in finding and punishing the guilty. 

4. If a member abuses a privilege of the school, it is proper that 
he be deprived of privilege, such as playing with others, recit- 
ing with the class, speaking to schoolmates lq school hours, 
engaging in competitions, or of any privilege as the teacher 
may adjudge. 

This platform will furnish a good lesson in civics, teaching 
social responsibility and social duty, and using the school to 
typify any community. 

2. Whispering, note-writing, leaving the room too often, 
noisy walking. These are school disturbances, bad habits, 
in which energy is not properly directed. Keeping the pupils 
profitably busy and providing special times for communica- 
tion and moving about quietly will help. Seating pupils 
so as to separate those given to talk, and, in case of per- 
sistent whispering, isolation of the offender in some out-of- 
the-way part of the room, may be effective. Noisy walkers 



DISCIPLINE 127 

who do not yield to above practice of quietly moving 
about may be kept back to walk out alone. Leaving the 
room too often should be privately investigated in personal 
interviews. 

3. Pranks. Such as putting match heads on the floor, 
sulphur, cheese, or rubber on the stove, chalk on backs, 
hiding hats or books, and the like should not be taken too 
seriously, as they are probably due to surplus energy or a 
desire to attract attention. Neither should they be ignored. 
Take them calmly, suggest, not sarcastically, that the act 
was not admirable, since a half-wit could think it and do it. 
Apply consequences when fairly sure of offenders. Proper 
play and interesting work are antidotes, absorbing the sur- 
plus energy. 

' Ji-. Fighting, truancy, tardiness, lying. These are near vices. 
Fighting and lying must be handled with caution, as the 
act may not have been vicious. Unfortunately man seems 
to inherit a fighting spirit from his warlike ancestors, and it 
takes time to root it out. Boys seem to like the excitement 
of a fight, and the whole crowd will join in nagging first 
one boy and then another, just to stir him up to fight 
somebody. The excitement of proper play will replace the 
desire to fight. If boys are left at recesses merely to stand 
aroimd, not prompted and led to proper play, mischief 
will always brew. Proper play equipment and super- 
vised play will remedy this. The fighting spirit may be 
directed to the winning of contests and the mastering of 
dij05culties. 

Lying is something a teacher must evaluate before pro- 
ceeding against. Children are prone to lie, and the act does 
not necessarily indicate a great degTee of moral depravity. 
Still it should be corrected. It may be due to mere fancy, the 
imagination giving such vivid pictures that the child does 
not readily distinguish between what he imagines and the 



128 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

reality. This generally leads to gross exaggeration which 
should be corrected, though not punished. 

But there is the lie which is " the ever-present help in time 
of trouble," a common one in schools; also the lie which 
seeks intentionally to create the wrong impression, or to be 
merely for lying's sake, and which leads on to the vicious 
habit of lying; and the lie which is part truth with something 
held back. These are all serious faults, and should be checked 
in early youth before they develop into more serious moral 
vices of later years. The teacher must persistently hold up 
ideals of truth, and, when necessary, supplement these. 
Dr. Stanley Hall says in this connection, "There is still vir- 
tue in the rod." First seek out the motive, and this will guide 
in what to say or do at the beginning. 

Tardiness and absences should be promptly reported to 
parents when not explained by them. If absence proves to 
be a case of truancy, the work of the school may be at fault, 
or it may be merely due to the " call of the wild." Parents 
should help to avoid tardiness and absence, yet the teacher 
should investigate each case. Transportation of pupils will 
eliminate most cases under this group. 

5, Vices. Such as lying, cheating, gambling, smoking, 
chewing, obscenity, profanity, idleness. The isolation of the 
country is not suflicient to prevent contagious spreading 
of such vices. It is an old saying that a lie will travel so 
much faster than the truth. These vices seem to be able 
to pervade the remotest corners, and children, being imi- 
tative, become contaminated. The school does not receive 
its children with unspoiled minds and with unformed habits. 
Here again the teacher must go carefully after information 
of the moving causes. Sometimes bad habits of parents, 
or the indifference and even vicious sentiment of the com- 
munity are responsible. This does not mean that the vices 
should be tolerated in the school. The teacher should do all 



DISCIPLINE 129 

in her power to stamp them out, yet the children must not 
be considered naturally depraved when they only reflect 
their surroundings. If a boy's father and older brothers use 
tobacco or profane and obscene language, it is but natural 
in the boy to take these up. Sometimes a boy feels that it 
is manly to take up these things, which, when true, is a sad 
reflection on the ways of men that such things should be 
thought manly. 

Upon the slightest suspicions the teacher should interview 
any probable offender, and try to convince him that the 
practice is bad, that it cannot be tolerated in and about 
the school, and that he must promise to desist. It is some- 
times best to take a written and signed promise, then let 
the offender understand that he is on parole during good 
behavior. Give him to understand that you wish him to 
reform and that you must protect the school. If offenses 
are repeated they must be dealt with in increasing severity, 
the last resort being expulsion, or the reform school. All the 
while moral instruction must strive to create ideals and 
school sentiment against such things. 

If cheating and idleness appear they may be due to the 
nature of the work or the overexactions of the school, or 
they may be due to physical defects of the children. The 
cause should then be found and removed. Obscenity may 
crop out in writings and drawings, especially in the out- 
houses. These houses should be constantly inspected, and, 
when the teacher is sure of sympathetic assistance, two or 
three of the best boys may be confidentially appointed a 
committee to help to prevent or to punish offenses. A sim- 
ilar committee of girls may be helpful. These may be com- 
mittees to assist in playground and all outside activities. 
These committees can be very helpful and their cooperation 
will be helpful to them. Supervised play and the transporta- 
tion of pupils will remove most of the opportunities for prac- 



130 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

tice in many of the vices of rural children. Again and again 
we must stress the very best in physical environment for the 
school. 

Corporal punishment. For many years this field has been 
a battle ground of contenders for and against. Naturally 
the pendulum swung to extremes, and now seems adjusting 
to a rational mean. 

In years gone by corrective measures were harsh and even 
cruel. We have been told of school committees who, when 
examining a teacher applying for the school, would call in 
an unwitting boy who was to be caught and thrashed by 
the applicant by way of proving his fitness. The reaction 
finally set in for milder measures in dealing with the young. 
Many people took the position that corporal punishment 
was wrong in totOy and many school committees have for- 
bidden its use. However, the best authorities now favor it in 
certain cases, maintaining that with younger children it is 
often very effective. Further, it should not be ranked as the 
last resort, since expulsion is still more serious. Miss More- 
house^ gives the following paragraph to the point: — 

Corporal punishment is **a relic of the dark ages." So are those 
characteristics of human nature that will respond to no gentler 
stimuli. So are all the conditions of our living which keep alive 
the brutal in mankind. But to assume that all human beings, and 
especially those whose powers of rationalization are still rudi- 
mentary, may be governed by the motives that at present only the 
more advanced people comprehend, is utter foolishness. To formu- 
late an ideal of human relationships from which force may be 
eliminated is a helpful and inspiring exercise; to base a compre- 
hensive system of practical control upon it, to be applied to human 
beings now, is a Quixotic fallacy. 

Though corporal punishment is a dangerous privilege 
which may be resorted to too often by weak teachers, yet 

1 Morehouse, F. M,, Discipline of the School, p. 198. 



DISCIPLINE 131 

it should not be entirely forbidden. When administered, 
it should generally be in private, sometimes in the presence 
of a reliable witness, never in the presence of the school, and 
with a switch as the instrument. The teacher should try 
many substitutes, such as, private talks, written promises 
with parole, interviews with parents, and other punish- 
ments. Then, when a good switching seems advisable, it 
should be administered. Children begin to assume a differ- 
ent attitude toward these matters with the age of puberty. 
After that age corporal punishment is not advisable, and 
stress should be placed on appeals to manly and womanly 
qualities, use of the record of offenses with promises to 
refrain, and such other measures as may appear to fit the 
case. If such an offender can be brought to see that he has 
done wrong and that there is no return that he can make 
except through resolve and effort to do better, his reform is 
begun. If the case is persistent or flagrant and open, and 
thus one which calls for prompt action to protect the school, 
the higher authority of the trustees or principal should be 
evoked, and the case laid before such authority with all the 
records as evidence. 

Improper and proper punishments. The following is a 
brief summary of the forms of punishment which may be 
regarded as improper and proper for a teacher to use: — 

1. Improper punishments. Improper punishments are 
such as ridicule, sarcasm, boxing the ears, other personal 
indignities, nagging or continual scolding, threats, tasks 
from school work or the Bible which may cause dislike of 
these, depriving entirely of recesses, depriving of well- 
earned marks, any harsh, cruel, or injurious treatment, and 
any taking too much of the teacher's time or the time of the 
school. 

2. Proper punishments. General reproof to the school as a 
warning, private individual reproof, pubUc individual or 



132 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

group reproof, isolation, deprivation of privilege, restora- 
tion of damages, holding groups responsible, reports to 
parents, signed promises, reasonable detention, and, in 
extreme cases, corporal punishment, suspension, and expul- 
sion 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What kind of school will give least trouble to discipline? Discuss all 
factors. 

2. What are disadvantages in changing teachers frequently? 

3. What more is the aim of discipline than merely keeping order? 

4. What effect on a school when a teacher is too strict? Too lax in disci- 
pline? 

5. What trait, if any one can be selected, in a teacher will go farthest to 
win the respect of pupils? 

6. Make a list of appeals which may be made to self interest to promote 
study. Observe pupils a few days and try to decide which appeal is 
best adapted to each pupil. 

7. What is the "punishment of consequences"? Illustrate. Wherein is 
it not possible? 

8. What are the moral effects which may be produced through each one 
of the common school branches? 

9. What dangers in prizes as incentives? 
10. How will school fairs help discipline? 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Bagley, W. C. School Discipline. (Macmillan Company.) 
Bagley, W. C. Classroom Management. (Macmillan Company.) 
Colgrove, C. P. The Teacher and the School. (Charles Scribner's Sons.) 
Morehouse, F. M. Discipline in the Schools. (D. C. Heath & Company.) 

Excellent. 

Page, David. Theory and Practice of Teaching. (American Book Com- 
pany.) 

Perry, A. C. Discipline as a School Problem. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 

White, E. E. School Management. (American Book Company.) 



PART II 

TEACHING THE ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL 
SUBJECTS 



CHAPTER VIII 

INTRODUCTORY 

Child needs and cycles. In the selection and arrangement 
of the fundamental subjects to be taught, two things must 
be kept in mind: — 

1. Adaptations to the stages of child development. 

2. The child's needs in the social order in which he must 
live. 

In the brief study of the periods of child growth it has 
been pointed out that the first six school years constitute a 
peculiar cycle which may be called preadolescent, and the 
second six school years another cycle, the adolescent; also 
that the second six may well be divided into periods of three 
and three. Practice in some States would make this second 
cycle one of five years, divided in three and two. 

Fundamental studies of the first six years. The first work 
confronting the teacher in the first cycle is that of thoroughly 
grounding the children in the preliminary fundamentals, 
reading, spelHng, writing, and elementary arithmetic. These 
first essential subjects have been called the tools of educa- 
tion. No pains should be spared to give the child an easy 
familiarity with these tools, and skill in their use. The 
modern school has been accused of some slackness here, 
some falling-away from the efficiency of the old school. The 
fundamentals of this first cycle should include ease and cor- 
rectness in the use of language, spoken and written; some 
interpretation of the natural environment; familiarity with 
the story of the settlement and development of the local 
community, the State, and the Nation, with something of 
the history of the world's great peoples; a brief knowledge 



136 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

of the world, its surface, peoples, and products from the 
geographer's point of view; an introduction to the laws of 
life and health, leading into practices of hygiene and sanita- 
tion; a beginning in handicrafts for boys, home economics 
for girls, and agriculture for both; and a training in appre- 
ciation which will lead to the higher pleasures of living 
found in such as art, literature, and the beautiful life. These 
fundamentals indicate the subjects to be taught in the ele- 
mentary school. 

The upper grades. The second cycle is now partly in- 
cluded in the elementary school and partly in the high 
school. It should all be included in the high school period 
in its junior and senior groups. Its work should be to put 
the child into fuller possession of his social inheritance 
of human knowledge and achievement, and to equip him 
for a successful life in his community. Vocational education 
would be included in this second part of the work, and, in 
rural schools, this would be mainly agricultural education. 

What this second part will include. In the following chap- 
ters the elementary cycle is the one in view, though the 
treatment often extends into seventh- and eighth-grade 
work, since these grades are as yet so generally organized 
in the elementary school. 

Most of our States have their own manuals of State course 
of study, which include more or less specific methods of 
treatment. The aim in this volume is to supplement these 
State manuals, not to supplant them. 



CHAPTER IX 

READING AND LITERATURE 

Importance of reading. Reading is the tool of greatest 
importance, since it is the key of approach to other subjects. 
The child on entering school has reading as his first problem, 
and much of future success depends upon the work done by 
the teacher here. Reading is not only the means of approach 
to other school subjects; it is the great means to knowledge 
and to enjoyment through the years of life. 

Reading has been tersely defined as " thought-getting and 
thought-giving." By "thought-getting" is meant interpre- 
tation of thought from the written or printed page, which is 
silent reading. By "thought-giving " is meant the expression 
of the thought as interpreted, which is oral reading. Natu- 
rally the interpretation must precede the expression, and 
silent reading is more extensively used by all; hence, in 
teaching, great stress should be put upon the thought get- 
ting. As too often taught, the stress has been upon the mere 
naming of words or meaningless repetition of sentences. 
The mechanics of reading must first be mastered, but the 
teacher must lead away from mechanical reading to the 
spiritual interpretation. 

The child has acquired ideas and has related these into 
thoughts. He has quite a vocabulary of words, and can use 
these in sentences to express his thoughts. These ideas and 
thoughts, associated with spoken words and sentences, are 
to be associated with written and printed words and sen- 
tences. The written and printed forms must first be learned 
so as to be recognized by form and related to proper sound 
and meaning. This is the mechanical side of beginning to 



138 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

read. There are several methods variously used to accom- 
plish this beginning. 

The alphabetic method. The first method widely used 
taught the alphabet, then combinations of letters into such 
as ab, eb, and ib to a spelling of words, and finally the build- 
ing of words into sentences. Sooner or later this got children 
into reading. Since this method taught reading through 
spelling, claims have been set up that it made better spellers in 
the olden days. But many objections are entered against it. 

As a basal method, it has been discarded, but with any 
other method the letters must finally be taught and used in 
spelling. 

The word method. This is the most widely used basal 
method. The child is given words, and drilled to their recog- 
nition separately and in sentences. 

This procedure seems to follow the manner of first learn- 
ing oral language. The child speaks words first. This method 
proceeds from the known to the unknown, from the word as 
a whole to its parts, and it uses the word as the unit of lan- 
guage. 

Objections are entered against it: — 

1. It does not give greatest power to recognize new words. 

2. It may lead to word naming, the mechanical reading previ- 
ously mentioned, the emphasis on words rather than thoughts. 

3. It does not make good spellers. 

The sentence method. Whole sentences are presented, 
and the children are drilled to their recognition. Since the 
sentence is the unit of thought, this plan appears to have 
logical claims. It leads to ease and naturalness of expression. 
The sentence, though, is too complex to begin with. All 
study of the development of the speech of a child has shown 
that the word is the unit, and the child first isolates single 
words as units of thought. 



READING AND LITERATURE 



139 




Not many sentences can be thus presented, too, because 
most sentences are too long and too complex. In conse- 
quence pupils must give their chief attention to the words. 

The phonic method. This is somewhat similar to the 

alphabetic, but the sound 

values rather than the name 
values of the letters are first 
taught. The letters c, a, b, 
are taught as sounded in 
speaking the word, cab, 
slowly with shifting em- 
phasis as the sounds are 
uttered, c-a-b. Similarly 
other sound values are 
taught along with their 
symbols. 

This gives pupils power 
to master new words. The 
stress is on letters suffi- 
ciently to make good spell- 
ers. It conduces to good ar- 
ticulation, enunciation, and 

pronunciation. Pupils make great progress the first year 
with this method. 

But all words are not phonetic. Neither is this plan in 
line with the way children learn language, hence it may be 
uninteresting. 

It seems that a combination of these methods brings the 
strength of one to correct the weakness of the other. The 
most popular combination starts with the use of the word 
and sentence methods, and, in about three weeks after be- 
ginning, phonics is introduced. Many excellent teachers 
introduce phonics the first day. 

In selecting the method to pursue, it will be well to keep 



Fig. 10. Diagram showing Com- 
parative Proportion of Time to 
be devoted to the mechanics op 
Reading and to Mental and Emo- 
tional Traininq. 

(From Kendall and Mirick's How to Teach the 
Fundamental Subjects.) 



140 TEACHING IN RUEAL SCHOOLS 

in mind that no elaborate system is necessary with ordinary 
children. The simpler the method, the better, provided it 
gets good results. Devices are only crutches for use in learn- 
ing to walk alone. Phonics, word drills, diacritical marks, 
and special teaching devices are preliminaries to the supreme 
accomplishment of pleasurable reading. As soon as the 
pupils can make headway for themselves, give them plenty 
of interesting books adapted to their grade, and guide them 
to an appreciation of the wonders of literature. Given a 
headway of interest, pupils will make great progress through 
their own efforts, and thus may be accomplished the truest 
aim of education. 

Supplemental reading needed. Our great drawback in 
rural schools is the lack of books for the pupils to read. 
There should be in every school a selection of books adapted 
to each grade, including the first. A well-stocked hbrary 
must be secured for every school. Traveling Hbraries for 
exchange among schools are excellent for rural schools. A 
few primers and readers of all grades may be in every school, 
and these may be exchanged at stated times for different 
ones from other schools. In a similar way other books may 
go the rounds, keeping up a supply of fresh and stimulating 
reading matter. If nothing Hke this is found by a teacher in 
her district or county, probably she can agitate the move- 
ment to have a library year for the whole county, in some 
way to secure a collection of books for every school. The 
County Superintendent can then plan the selection, placing, 
and exchanging of these so as to give an abundance of new, 
interesting reading matter in every school at all times. As a 
last resort, the teacher may be able to get a few personal 
copies of two or three primers and first readers. 



READING AND LITERATURE 141 

First lessons 

In all studies it is best for pupils to have a motive to spur 
them on. A story may be read to a class of beginners, and 
they may then be asked if they do not wish they could read 
more stories while the teacher must hear other classes. Or, 
the teacher may engage these beginners in conversation 
about people who read at home or elsewhere, and some of 
them may tell about what they have heard read. These 
beginners may be assured that if they are interested and will 
try every day, they will be taught to read interesting things 
before the year is gone. 

Frequent conversations may be held with these children 
to develop animated, spontaneous, natural expression. The 
word method is lacking in leading to this natural expression. 
At first, sentences should be put before the beginners. The 
emphasis may be on one or more words, but these should 
first appear in sentences, and the children be led to express 
full thoughts. Sentences supply the complete thoughts for 
that full, easy, natural expression so much to be desired as a 
result. Words are to be taught through the use of sentences. 

Objective work. The teacher must have some objects of 
interest at hand for the first lesson, and have in mind the 
sentences to write on the board. An orange and some flowers 
will be as good as anything else. A conversation about the 
orange, the flowers, orange blossoms, and related interests 
will elicit attention and call forth the sentences to be used. 
Mary may say, I hold the flower, and John may say, / hold 
the orange. The chalk should then say these sentences. The 
pupils may be called out to point to what the chalk says for 
John, what for Mary. They may be shown where it says 
the orange, where the flower, where I hold. The sentences 
may be rewritten for pupils to state what the chalk says to 
them each time. Other convenient idioms for similar use in 



142 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

teaching various words are the following: Give me, show me, 
I see, I have, This is, Where is, is made of. Can you (walk, 
jump, read, etc.), Can you 'play (ball, tag, etc.) . Phrases such 
as on the table, in the winter, across the fields, when presented 
in sentences, are the agencies for teaching the prepositions. 
Care should be taken to secure the expression of the phrases 
as wholes and their recognition as wholes before the preposi- 
tions are separated for recognition. This stress on wholes, 
whole sentences, whole phrases, whole stories is very im- 
portant for final results. 

A good-sized shallow box, about two feet square, divided 
into a number of compartments and supplied with a variety 
of toy objects, such as balls, flags, tops, whistles, coins, etc., 
may be a great help. If several of each kind are in the collec- 
tion they will be helpful in language and number lessons 
also. To lead to a grasp of the thought in the sentence, 
pupils may be called upon to do what the chalk says, Sjpin 
the top. Hold up the flag. Roll the ball. Blow the whistle, Bring 
me the dime. At other times they may be asked to repeat 
what the chalk says, care being given to secure natural 
statements. Pupils' names added to the sentences will con- 
tribute to interest. 

Child interests. In the selection of first words, some 
thought must be given to a choice of objects of interest. 
Sentences should be connected in stories, gradually to be 
extended. This should be kept in mind in teaching words 
and sentences. These may be selected from nursery rhymes, 
fables, and familiar stories such as Little Boy Blue, Hey 
Diddle Diddle, Jack Be Nimble, The Little Red Hen, and 
Hiawatha. The lessons may be developed on large sheets of 
manilla paper, used as charts, the teacher making her own 
charts. In rural schools this will be an economy of time, 
since blackboard lessons consume time, yet even with 
charts the blackboard must be used freely. Another econ- 



READING AND LITERATURE 143 

omy will be found in using words and sentences chosen 
from the primer. Many modern primers begin with the 
nursery rhymes, famihar stories, and classic fables, all of 
which heighten the interest in these first lessons and won- 
derfully stimulate to good expression. 

Use script. This preliminary work on board and chart 
may be in good script. Teachers have tried imitating the 
print, but their print is about as different from the book 
print as the script is, so that experience seems to teach that 
there is no advantage in the print, and it takes much prac- 
tice to become skilKul in it. Many primers now have script 
along with the print so as to make it easy to pass entirely to 
the print, and in the meanwhile children learn to write. 
Rubber letters^ may be used to print on the chart along with 
the script, but the first lessons may be entirely with script. 

Drill cards. From heavy white paper or light cardboard, 
cards may be cut, and on each card some word, sentence, or 
phrase may be written in large script, or printed with the 
rubber type. These may be held before the class, and pupils 
called to recite what the card says. The time of exposm-e 
may be shortened until the eye is trained to quick recogni- 
tion, as in reading. These cards may, after a few days, be 
used to save time of board writing. Several copies of each 
may be made to give to members of the class, for them to 
match the words in building the sentences with small cards, 
given them for the day's seat work. On each small card a 
word or phrase is written. Cards are given out with more 
words than needed so that choice must be made. 

Cards with outline pictures of objects may be bought or 
made. Pupils may take a picture, select the word to name 

^ These may be obtained easily in almost any city, and from school sup- 
ply houses. A box of figures and letters, each an inch high, and a rubber 
stamp pad and a bottle of ink, such as are used by grocers in printing signs, 
can be obtained for small cost and will prove very useful in many forms of 
primary work. 



144 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

the object, and then draw the picture and write the name 
under it. 

Drill cards are printed in sets to accompany many modern 
primers, and sample sets from some publishers will serve as 
models. 

Phonics. The sentence-word method aims to get the child 
quickly into reading, and to begin with natural expression 
of thought. It enables children to recognize such words and 
sentences as have been taught. But the child must become 
independent, must be able to master new words, and the 
phonic method aids in giving this power. There is no agree- 
ment as to the proper time to begin phonics. Some say after 
a few days or a few weeks. Some are ardent advocates of 
the phonic method as the only beginning method. It is thus 
widely used in Germany. An enthusiast claims in his book 
that "children of fair ability can be taught to read and spell, 
the first year of school, from three thousand to four thou- 
sand words " by the phonic method. Beginning with the 
sentence-word method it will be safe to introduce phonics 
in three weeks or less. 

One of the regular recitation periods given every day to 
beginners should be set aside for phonics, so that phonic 
drills may be given mostly apart from the reading. 

Ear drills. Ear drills come first. Pronounce for the pupils, 
slowly so as to separate the sounds, giving the consonants 
a slightly explosive sound, such words as Joe, go, jay, gay, 
row, no, so, lo, day, say, see, she, hoy, joy, toy, paw, thaw, gow, 
my, chew, etc. Do not write these, but drill orally until 
pupils recognize quickly. 

Follow these with words of three elementary sounds, such 
as hat, bat, cat, fat, mat, vat, sat, vet, bet, hit, lot, etc. Simple 
commands may be given in which some of the words are 
pronounced thus disjointedly as, "John, sh-iti the d-oor." 
In telling stories some of the words may be so pronounced. 



READING AND LITERATURE 145 

Probably two weeks should be given entirely to ear train- 
ing, time being given until this work is thoroughly done. 
Then the child should be shown the letters which stand for 
these sounds and gradually drilled to their recognition. 

Order of teaching the letters and sounds. The order of 
teaching the letters, with their phonetic values, varies 
greatly in the theory and practice of many teachers and 
primers. The weight of opinion favors the selection of the 
consonants easily sounded, such as /, Z, m, w, r, 5, and the 
short vowels for the first lessons. The short vowels are used 
oftener than others in common words, and this is the basis 
of the theory that the vowels should be learned first by their 
short sounds. This plan would teach gradually all the con- 
sonants by their sounds along with a few phonograms of one 
short vowel, then with phonograms bringing in one by one 
the other short vowels. Next in order would come the long 
sounds of the vowels. 

Word's Rational Method teaches first/, I, m, n, r, s, a, e, o, 
ing, ings, ight, ights, and after these §, I, y, Jc, t, etc. This 
method gives preference to the long sounds. One advantage 
of this is that for the vowels the long sounds give also the 
alphabetic names in nearly every case. It makes little differ- 
ence whether the long sound or the short is taught first. 
Soon it must be shown that some of these letters stand for 
different sounds. It is easy to begin with initial / as in fat. 
Pupils can be led to pronounce the word separating it into 
two parts, f-at. The word should be written on the board, 
and the pupils taught / as it is sounded. The letter is then 
written alone, and the pupils are drilled on giving its sound. 
The next day I can be similarly taught, then a drill on recog- 
nizing and pronouncing / and I. Day by day the number 
is thus extended until all are taught. The alphabetic names 
of the consonants should not be taught until the latter part 
of the year. 



146 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Diacritical marks. Another point long under dispute is 
whether the diacritical marks should be used in these first 
lessons to distinguish the various sounds of any letter. 
Practice has set in strongly against much use of these 
marks. The method ought to present the least number of 
things to confuse. Simplicity always is a good thing to keep 
in mind. The words of the reading page are not marked 
diacritically, and the pupil is to become seK-helpful in mas- 
tering these words without such marks. If such marks are 
introduced, they are but temporary helps. 

Without the marks, pupils can be taught that / always 
says the same thing; so does m, t, Pi etc. But s sometimes 
says §, and the two sounds can be taught in the same lesson. 
Examples then will help to guide the reader which sound to 
give when he comes across s. Similarly d, a, d, a, may be 
together given as sounds of the one letter a. These sounds 
will be sufficient for a in the first few months. Pupils must 
be drilled on giving these sounds, and words given to il- 
lustrate the sounds. A type or family word should be 
learned for each sound. When a pupil meets with a new word 
containing a, he must rely largely upon the sense to give the 
proper sound. He should readily decide the sound of s in 
hasy or that city would not make sense if pronounced kitty. 
This forces him to think of the sense, hence is not so mechan- 
ical as the diacritical mairks make his method of reading. 

The other letters are taught in a similar way. This has 
been called the " Try-another-sound" method, and it has 
much to commend it. 

However, the diacritical marks must later be taught for 
dictionary work and for written drills on pronunciation. 
The success of the teacher and the primer in use may help 
to decide how much of these marks are to be taught in the 
beginning, and how nmny of the sounds are to be used the 
first year. 



READING AND LITERATUHE 147 

There should be a gradual introduction of the phonic 
words into reading sentences after a few of the symbols have 
been taught and blended into the words. One new word at 
a time will be best at iSrst. The order of these words should 
follow the order of the primer and first reader in use. Some 
good method primers should be secured by the teacher as 
suggestive guides and sources of drill material to supplement 
the text. 

Before the year is over the alphabetic names of the letters 
should be taught. These should finally be known in order 
from a to z, for a knowledge of this order will always be 
useful. 

Other first-grade suggestions. Story work should be used 
along with reading. Children should tell stories back to the 
teacher and the class. This is the best foundation work for 
good oral reading, which must always be stressed. Oral 
treatment by story and conversation should pave the way 
to the readuig of the story or fable from the chart or the 
book. Story treatment with the class by way of anticipation 
of reading the pupils may do for themselves will heighten 
interest in that reading. The Hiawatha Primer (Houghton 
Mifflin Company) is a good source book for stories later to 
be read. 

This primer also gives outlines and plans for drawings, 
paper cuttings, and handicrafts correlated with the Indian 
legends. However, this primer cannot well be used as a 
reader until the end of the first year or beginning of the 
second year. Where the story calls for action, the child must 
be encouraged to accompany oral expression with proper 
action. Characters may be assigned to pupils, and stories 
given dramatically. 

In How to Teach the Fundamental Subjects^ by Kendall 
and Mirick, the following suggestive exercises are given as 
good for seat work : — 



148 



TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 



Matching words to pictures. 

Sorting words or letters. 

Making words from letters. 

Arranging sentences from words or letters. 

Matching words to their initial letters. 

Grouping words that rhyme. 

Filling blanks in elliptical sentences. 

Making original sentences about some interesting subject or pic- 
ture. 

Answering questions written on the board or on slips of paper or 
cardboard. 

Copying verses. 

The words of a .sentence may be written several times 
each on a card ruled as in the following illustrations, and 
copies made on the mimeograph, so as to supply each pupil 
with a card. The pupil is to cut on the lines and put like 
words together. After this is done, he is to put them to- 
gether to build sentences like the one written on the board 
or chart. He should finally put all away in an envelope 
which the teacher is to keep for review work. 



Jack 


the 


and 




down 


his 


fell 


fJill 


up 


went 


fell 


broke 


crown 


and 


hill 


up 


Jack 


and 


broke 


hill 


Jill 


hill 


crown 


Jack 


his 


went 


Jack 


the 


and 


down 


and 



All the words of a story on a full page of the primer may 
be written, cut apart, and placed in an envelope. Sufficient 
copies may be made to have an envelope for every pupil. 



READING AND LITERATURE 149 

These words in script are to be put together to match those 
in print on the page. 

Envelopes may be used to great advantage for preparing 
in advance the day's work to be assigned in hmited time. 

Drawing to illustrate the story may be begun in the fir^t 
year. If the pupils have learned the jingle containing, " Jack 
jumped over the candlestick," they may be told to draw a 
picture of the candlestick, and then told to draw Jack 
jumping over. 

Copying words learned may come in every day as a writ- 
ing lesson. 

Two periods per day may be given to reading with first 
grade, one period to phonics and spelling, and one period to 
nature lessons, language, and number. After about three 
months the phonic period may be given over to writing and 
other things, and a few minutes of each reading period may 
be given to phonic drills. 

Older pupils may be asked to supervise some of the seat 
work and to give drills with the sight cards. Individual 
drills may thus be given oftener to any of the slower pupils. 
Sometimes an older pupil can be found who can take the 
beginners outdoors for ear drills in phonics. Words given 
may then more freely represent action, as in f-or-m a c-ir-cle. 
Simple directions may thus be given for games wherein each 
pupil is to obey as his name is called and action indicated. 

Second grade 

Lengthening thought-getting and giving. In the second 
year the thought-getting and giving may be lengthened 
from the sentence to the paragraph. Pupils are to read 
silently a paragraph, then one called upon to tell the others 
what it says. This one may be asked to close the book, 
step out to face the class, and tell what the paragraph says. 
If the thought is incomplete or the emphasis wrong, the 



150 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

teacher should spear a pointed question at the weak point, 
then call for new expression. 

Phonics, word and sentence building, drawing, writing, 
and related cutting and making should be extensions of work 
as begun in the first year. Girls may make small wigwams, 
and boys the bows and arrows in connection with the 
Hiawatha stories which they may read this year. 

Stories : dramatic work. Robinson Crusoe stories may be 
told them preparatory to their reading the book the third 
year. The edition by the Public School Pubhshing Company 
is adapted to the third year. 

Acting out some stories may be more fuUy done this year 
and the next. These children may take minor parts with 
third, fourth, and fifth grade children in acting stories, but 
some stories with characters adapted to the second grade 
children should be used with them. This dramatization 
brings out an imconscious naturalness of expression, adds 
to interest, voice training, and school material for special 
day programs. Dialogue reading where the characters have 
been assigned is good preparation and valuable reading 
drill. 

Building words: voice training. More attention this year 
may be given to building words with letters. This stresses 
spelling by letter. The reading matter calls for an extension 
of the knowledge of phonics to include all the sounds of each 
letter. Careful attention should be given to articulation, 
modulation, and general enunciation. Many pupils do not 
know or use the real value of short o. A difficult vowel 
sound is in ask, past, and such words. It will be valuable 
for the teacher to make up a list of words containing this 
vowel sound and drill on it. The difference between the 
vowel sounds in rude or crude, and tube or cube, should be 
pointed out and a list of words made for drill. 

Slovenly pronunciation, tendencies to say "goverment," 



READING AND LITERATURE 151 

**rithmetic," "gography," and the like, should be corrected. 
Phonic drills will help in all this. Slouching or careless 
posture should be attended to in all grades. 

Harsh voices should be softened, timid voices strength- 
ened, and musical tones encouraged. Good voice training 
and good oral reading should be kept in mind as desirable 
aims throughout all the grades. 

Some good books adapted to second grade are: Classic 
Stories for Little Ones (Public School Publishing Company) ; 
Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans (American 
Book Company) ; Fables and Fairy Stories (American Book 
Company); Grimm's Fairy Tales (Ginn & Co.); Nature 
Stories for Young Readers (D. C. Heath & Co.); Heart of 
Oak Reader, I and II (D. C. Heath & Co.). 

Third grade 

Emphasis on silent reading. Pupils may now extend the 
unit from the paragraph to a combination of paragraphs 
and to a whole literary production. Silent reading may be 
directed to several paragraphs, then their content given 
orally, notice being taken of the order of thought in the 
various paragraphs. 

To develop good silent reading and ready expression, the 
pupils must be supplied with plenty of reading matter. If 
there is halting and stumbling in reading, simpler matter 
should be used. Some of the second grade books should be 
used in the third, some of the third in the fourth, etc. 

Ability to read alone should now be stressed, and abun- 
dance of reading matter should be at hand. Besides the 
adopted reader, there should be four or five other similar 
readers, and many interesting selections from general litera- 
ture, Robinson Crusoe^ Swiss Family Robinson, Stories of 
American Life and Adventure (American Book Company), 
Old Stories of the East (American Book Company), Stories 



|52 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

of Indian Children^ Adventures of a Brownie (Education 
Publication Company), Jingle Book (The Macmillan Com- 
pany), Scudder*s Verse and Prose for Beginners, Cinderella, 
Big People and Little People of Other Lands, Holbrook's Booh 
of Nature Myths, and many nature books may be used. 

Upper grades 

In the first three years children are prepared in the 
mechanics of reading and have come to form some tastes 
for the good in literature. They are ready to venture more 
fully into the fields of literature of all varieties. Complete 
classics have a place, for they develop a strong interest, 
present characters in life situations, and thus offer valuable 
opportunity for character study; the harmony of the author's 
full plan or plot may be seen; an epoch or age is often de- 
picted by the whole classic; and the aesthetic or moral effect 
may be deeper and more permanent. Thus the footsteps of 
young readers may be guided into the fields of the best liter- 
ature, tastes may be formed for only the good, and an appre- 
ciation of the wonders of literature may be awakened. 

On the other hand, there is yet a place for the short poem 
or partial selection of the basal readers. A greater variety 
may thus be presented, a logical arrangement may be had 
to cover the aims to be accomplished, and better gradation 
or adaptation for regular lessons will be found in these 
readers. 

Li riu-al one-teacher schools often the fourth and fifth 
year pupils may be combined in one reading class, and sim- 
ilarly the sixth and seventh. Portions of each book should 
be used the first year, and other portions the next. This 
would avoid the wide jump from third to fifth or from fifth 
to seventh. If the books can be had, parts of several fourth 
and fifth readers should be used each year with one group, 
likewise parts of sixth and seventh readers with the next 



READING AND LITEBATURE 153 

higher group. Reading should still be kept up as one of the 
most important subjects throughout the elementary grades. 
The treatment of Robinson Crusoe by Miss McMurry, in 
the adapted book referred to in the second and third years' 
work, is a fine illustration of what may be done with a classic. 
The following is a partial hst of books to be used with 
these classes. 

GRADES IV AND V 

Hawthorne s Wonder Book. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Six Stories from Arabian Nights. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Kingsleys Greek Heroes. (Ginn & Co.) 
Greek Gods, Heroes and Men. (Scott, Foresman & Co.) 
Heidi, by Spyri. (Ginn & Co.) 
Lives of Lincoln, Lee, Grant, Jackson. 
Hart's Colonial Children. 
Pratt's History Stories. 
Pioneer History Stories. 

Ten Boys on the Road from Long Ago Till Now, 
Tales of Troy. 
King of the Golden River. 
Paul Dombey. 

Some of these stories should be treated orally, then assigned for reading. 
Country Life Readers (Silver, Burdett & Co.) and A Country Life Reader 
(Charles Scribner's Sons) are especially urged for fifth and sixth grades. 

GRADES VI AND VII 

By this time nearly the whole field of literature is available. Only a few 
books are suggested here: — 
Ancient Mariner. 
Miles Standish. 
Sketch-Book. 
Grandfather s Chair. 
Birds and Bees. 
Pilgrivis Progress. 
Stories of Waverley. 
Treasure Island. 
Snow-Bound. 

Autobiography of Franklin, 
Jungle Book, 
Ivanhoe. 



154 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Lady of the Lake. 

Kenilworih. 

The Spy. 

The Pilot. 

Silas Marner. 

Evangeline. 

Hero Stories from American History. (Ginn 8s Co.) 

Stories from the Bible, (Educational Publishing Company.) 

Some of these, such as Pilgrim's Progress, may be assigned 
for home reading, and brought up in school for general 
discussion. 

After a classic has been read several lines of discussion 
may be pointed out: — 

(1) A study of the characters, the parts played by each, 
the motives back of their acts, comparisons. 

(2) The figures of speech, allusions, and the beauties of 
Kterature found and appreciated. 

(3) The historical in the narrative, wherein true, wherein 
not true or exaggerated. 

(4) Life and other works of the author. 

(5) Selections for memorizing, learned and recited. 

The same line of work may be extended through the 
eighth year. 

In addition to the regular readers, two or three complete 
classics may be read and studied in class each year. These 
may vary with the tastes and interests of the teacher and 
the class. If the teacher thoroughly appreciates the classic, 
her enthusiasm will be contagious, and she will be more 
likely to teach it well. Some option should be left the teacher 
in the selection of the classics to be thus carefully studied. 

Oral reading 

In the stress we have placed on literature in connection 
with reading, it may appear that oral reading and other 
phases of expression have been neglected. Silent reading to 



READING AND LITERATURE 155 

get the thought must precede any expression to convey the 
thought. Then it has been mentioned that during life our 
reading is mostly silent interpretation. But there is a great 
place for oral reading in rural life and in school. How else 
may the teacher discover how well the pupil is entering into 
the thoughts and feelings of the author? And good oral 
reading will make more vivid the impression on the reader. 
It will open the way for the teacher to ask suggestive ques- 
tions, to awaken and direct the thinking. The intonation, 
emphasis, and enunciation are all important, but these need 
the training of the teacher. The poetry of the ancients was 
written to be recited on great occasions, and its beauty 
would be missed without appeal through the ear. Expres- 
sion of various kinds helps pupils to enter more completely 
into the heart of literature, and thus to bring it to pass that 
literature will take a greater hold on their lives. Expression 
through drawing, construction, oral reading, retelling the 
story, dialogue, and dramatization should receive attention 
constantly from the beginning throughout all the grades. 

Importance of reading aloud. In all circles of life the abil- 
ity to read aloud in a pleasing, entertaining way is a fine art 
to be coveted, striven for by any one. In rural life, when 
about the family fireside during the long winter evenings, 
some one to read aloud while others are busy with knitting, 
sewing, and other industries would be a great blessing to the 
whole family. Often nothing will go further to soothe and 
comfort a sick patient than will the gentle voice and story 
of the reader. A choice reader may be a blessing not alone 
to the family but to the whole neighborhood, and there may 
be many such in every neighborhood. 

The human voice is rich in possibilities and it should be 
trained for its life work as assiduously as is the voice of the 
singer or the fingers of the pianist. The beginning is made 
through the training in phonics. In the upper grades the 



156 



TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 



vowel sounds can be developed into rounder, richer tones, 
and the consonants into more clear-cut, easy precision; 
hence this training should be kept up or revived. This may- 
come in orthoepy and dictionary work. Enunciation, articu- 
lation, and a softening of voice tone should receive attention 
anew. This may well come in connection with work in 
expression as oral reading, story telling, lesson discussions, 

and dramatization. Train- 
ing in vocal music always 
helps here. 

Training in thought-get- 
ting. In addition to the 
voice training, there must 
be the training to get the 
thoughts preliminary to the 
expression. This tends to 
emphasize silent reading, 
instead of so much oral 
reading. As children ad- 
vance through the grades 
the emphasis on silent read- 
ing should increase. 

In the assignment of the 
lesson, something of the 
story may be given to the 
class. This is the time to 
help them with words Uable 
to give trouble in pronun- 
ciation or meaning. In primary grades, the new and difficult 
words must be anticipated in previous drills. Questions 
and conversation prepare the mind for the thoughts to be 
found in the lesson to be studied. When a reading lesson 
has been well assigned in this way, the pupils will with zest 
proceed at once to the preparation. 




Fig. 11. Diagram showing Com- 
parison OF Amount of Oral and 
Silent Reading advisable in the 
Various Grades 

(From Kendall and Mirick's How to Teach the 
Fundamental Subjects.) 



READING AND LITERATURE 157 

The practice of having the pupils glance through a para- 
graph, then of calling one to leave his book, face the class, 
and tell in his own words the content of the paragraph is 
always good. Following this a pupil reads the paragraph as 
natiu'ally as it was told. 

In a similar way as the grades advance, pupils may sum- 
marize the story or thought of longer selections before these 
are read. Older pupils should have practice in taking the 
place of the teacher and reading some new story to the entire 
school. This story should be approved by the teacher in 
advance, and the pupil should give special thought to prepa- 
ration for this reading. If the pupil selects the story, all the 
better. 

Dramatization for special programs will stimulate to great 
interest and supply a motive for excellence. Rural children 
are often self-conscious, and acting will help wear this off. 
Such children in ordinary reading need to be immersed in 
the story so as to lose sight of self, and in acting they must 
be encouraged to throw themselves unreservedly into their 
parts. 

Often good expression is hampered by the difficulty of the 
book. If a class seems to be doing poorly, try easier reading. 
Readers often advance too rapidly or are graded too high. 
Here is where the advantages of having several sets of read- 
ers will show. Easy supplementary reading may be brought 
in where there might seem to be the stigma of being turned 
back in readers. 

Reading to the children. All children like to have others 
read to them. On some Friday afternoon, or on other con- 
venient occasions, sometimes at the opening hour of the 
day, the teacher should read to the children. These occa- 
sions may be used as privileges, somewhat as holiday occa- 
sions, and they will go far toward inspiring the children to 
read for themselves. By careful selections, teachers can 



158 TEACHING IN EURAL SCHOOLS 

present to pupils many of the choice bits of our Enghsh and 
American hterature. 

To form reading habits and to appreciate the qualities of 
good literature are aims to be daily kept in mind by the 
teacher. These aims accomplished and the children are not 
only on a high road to happiness in life, but they have tastes 
which will protect them against the vicious, ugly literature 
which wiU be scattered all along their pathways. 

Selections for memorizing.^ Beginning in the very first 
grade, children should memorize passages of great merit. 
This merit may be in the artistic sentiment, in the fine 
choice of words, or in the moral or other lesson taught. Much 
of the literature for young children is in poetry, and at first 
the poems are short. Many of these are excellent for memo- 
rizing, beginning with Mother Goose melodies. Later on 
the finest passages should be picked out of reading lessons 
and classics read, and these committed to memory. Drills 
should be occasionally had on these when, the whole room 
at attention, different children are called upon to repeat 
special selections, following some cue given by the teacher 
as to what is called for. This will be a very valuable general 
program. Gems of thought thus stored in mind are great 
sources of pleasure through life; they furnish rich food for 
contemplation; and they become wellsprings of culture and 
good influence. 

The School Library 

One of the greatest of rural-school problems is the library 
problem. In fact this is one of the most vital of rural life 
problems. Rural people are not as great readers as they 
should be to find that companionship necessary to offset the 
loneliness and isolation of coimtry life. The country people 

* An admirable little book for this purpose is Poems for Memorizing, 
R.L.S. EE. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 



= READING AND LITERATURE 159 

most need books. The school and the community libraries 
will stimulate better home libraries. No greater work can 
be done by a teacher for a community than to build up a 
good school and community hbrary, and to build into the 
children the habit of reading. 

The time has come for a more vigorous and persistent 
campaign for school Ubraries. Rural teachers cannot accom- 
pHsh the best in the teaching of reading, nor in the general 
work of educating the children, without better libraries. 
Many country people do not appreciate reading, many do 
not care to spend more money on school equipment, and 
many schoolhouses are not in condition to receive and pro- 
tect a library. These are difficulties to be attacked by the 
teacher. 

Programs have already been lu'ged to bring people out to 
the school. The school may offer good literary programs and 
charge a small entrance fee for each, with the understanding 
that the profits are to go to the library. These programs 
should so be planned as to be helpful in giving the children 
instruction in good literature, in supplying a motive for 
study and expression, and in bringing wholesome entertain- 
ment for all. A good short play may be the body of the 
program, and this may be accompanied by recitation, dia- 
logues, songs, and other happy, amusing, artistic features. 
All trashy, vulgar, and crude literature should be excluded, 
for these programs should present models and form tastes. 

The hoard which appropriates money should be reached 
and convinced that the library is such a necessary factor 
that money should be appropriated each year for it, just as 
surely as for chalk, broom, coal, or any other prime necessity. 
This should be done for the whole county. 

The larger pupils in their manual-training work may 
build the necessary cases to contain the books and periodi- 
cals. These cases should lock securely. If a special room for 



160 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

the library can be securely locked and barred, the cases may 
be open shelves. 

A good rural-school library. A rural-school library should 
have not less than five hundred appropriate volumes. A 
beginning may be made with any number, however small, 
but with any start regular additions should be made every 
year. The books should be selected so as to enrich the work 
of the entire school. Some should be adapted to younger 
children, some to older, no grade being neglected. The 
majority of the books should be chosen for their merit as 
literature, though there should be books on nature, agricul- 
ture, geography, history, rural life, animals, art, or in any 
field of peculiar interest. 

Some good periodicals are needed. Good weeklies are 
desirable, since these come oftener and keep the stimulus 
from weakening through lapse of interest. The Youth's 
Companion and the Literary Digest are good weeklies, and 
the World's Work and the Review of Reviews are good 
monthlies. 

The periodicals when new should be kept out only over 
night at home, and the new books issued for one week. Some 
pupil can be made librarian for a specified time, then some 
other in turn. A blankbook may be ruled with columns to 
record the name of book or periodical, name of borrower, 
date taken, date returned, and condition when returned. 
Pupils may be given talks on the arrangement of books on 
shelves and about their general care. 

During the day at school pupils should have access to the 
library to read during spare time, but the teacher should see 
that other work is not neglected for reading an interesting 
story book. 

If the library can be enlarged so as to become a community 
library, certain hours of certain days should be specified for 
the exchange of books, and some member of the community 



READING AND LITERATURE 161 

should be designated to assist the teacher or the school 
librarian during said hours. 

Keeping up the library. Every now and then the teacher 
with a committee should go over the books, taking stock to 
discover losses and damages, and noting which books should 
be replaced for fm-ther use. The girls with needles, thread, 
cloth, and paste may often mend the binding, and other- 
wise add materially to the life of a much used volume. 

The traveling libraries have already been mentioned. 
The larger, permanent libraries are needed, but the traveling 
library has some advantages in bringing a changing variety. 
li the larger Hbraries cannot be had, the traveling libraries 
make excellent beguinings, and they are excellent supple- 
ments to the larger Hbraries, especially for the introduction 
of new fiction and other books of the year. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Explain the use of reading as a tool subject and as an instrument of 
culture. 

2. What the relations of literature and a library to learning to read? 

8. To what extent are the people of your school community a reading 
people? Why are they not more so? 

4. Give plans for correlating the library with the different elementary 
school subjects. 

5. Do children first learn wholes, as tree, house, wagon, and then learn to 
analyze these into parts, or do they first learn parts and construct 
(synthesize) these into wholes? What bearing has this on the teaching 
of reading? 

6. Contrast the "Try-another-sound" method with the method of free 
use of diacritic marks. 

7. What are the values of good oral reading? 

8. Discuss the use of dramatics in reading. 

9. Make a list of ten books, your favorites, for each of the grades. Dis- 
cuss this with other teachers who have favorites. 

10. What difficulties in the way of getting libraries in rural schools? How 
overcome these? What are the pros and cons of the traveling library 
plan for schools? 



162 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Briggs and Coffman, Reading in Public Schools. (Row, Peterson & Co.) 

Charters, W. W. Teaching the Common Branches. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 

Kendall and Mirick. How to Teach the Fundamental Subjects. (Houghton 
Mifflin Company.) 

Klapper, Paul. Teaching Children to Read. (D. Appleton & Co.) 

McMurry, Chas. Special Method in Reading and Literature. (The Mao 
millan Company.) 

Colby, Rose. Literature and Life in the School. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 

McClintock, W. D. Litercdure in the Elementary School. (University of 
Chicago Press.) 

Stevenson, R. L. Children's Classics in Dram^ic Form. (Houghton Mifflin 
Company.) 



CHAPTER X 

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 
I. Elementary Language Lessons 

Qualities to be cultivated. The Primary School of some 
years ago reported the following incident: "A gentleman 
traveling in Schuylkill County observed some children by the 
roadside and a woman calling from a near-by house. He said, 
* Your mother is calling you, children.' The largest child, a 
girl of about ten years, turned to him and said, * Her ain't 
a-callin' we; us don't belong to she.' " 

The girl's language was sufficient to convey the thought 
intended, but it would not pass as an accepted model. Un- 
fortunately nearly all children have been exposed to such 
models long before entering school, and they just as readily 
imitate the bad form as the good. It seems that many find 
the inelegant the more attractive, and the wrong form, like 
evil, always present. Certain qualities of language must be 
cultivated, and of these, correctness, fluency, and taste are 
the first commended to the teacher. Correctness is a matter 
of using accepted forms, some of which were violated by the 
Schuylkill girl. Fluency is a quality of the ready talker or 
WTiter whose words come quickly and whose flow of language 
is smooth and easy. Taste refers to a choice of words and 
figures of speech when other correct forms might have been 
used. Slang is very expressive but rarely in good taste. 

In general we may say that taste is cultivated through 
contact with ideals in literature, letters, and conversations 
with cultured people. Fluency comes through possession of 
an abundance of new ideas and an awakened desire to express 



164 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

them. Correctness we arrive at througli a knowledge of 
proper forms and practice in their use. 

Importance of language for school work. The pupils nec- 
essarily begin language lessons along with reading and litera- 
ture. In turn, language correlates with every other school 
subject. It is a vastly important school subject which has 
been uninteresting and unfruitful in most rural schools. 
Itinerant teachers, short terms, many classes, scant library 
facilities, little supervision are factors in poor language 
results in rural schools. Let us hope for remedies for all 
these at an early day. 

In the first grade, pupils have been engaged in conversa- 
tions, have had stories to tell and to act, have committed and 
recited memory gems, have copied and composed sentences, 
and have built sentences and stories with cards in desk work. 
This is all good language work. Yet out of the close correla- 
tion of everythuig in the first few weeks, some special lessons 
in many things must emerge. Language must be considered 
for itself, and after a while have its special place in the 
program of every grade. In the one-teacher school one 
period each day given to the first grade should be used for 
language, nature, and number correlated. Above this grade 
a special language period should be in the program, though 
language is correlated with many subjects as sources for 
materials. 

First steps. There are two steps to keep in mind — 
thought-getting, and form-getting. The first is the prepara- 
tory step. Given something interesting to express, children 
generally bubble over with expression, so strong is their 
native tendency. A reason for past dullness in language work 
is that the children had nothing in mind to express. 

There is little excuse for the pupils to have nothing to say. 
The rural school has exceptional advantages in the nature 
material at hand, with its intimate connection with indus- 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 165 

tries and life. Nature and agricultm-e supply rich material for 
oral and written language. From the very first these must 
be used. Stories of all kinds used in reading, literature, 
history, nature, number, and geography become language 
lessons also. Pictures are of exceeding great value, contrib- 
uting as they do to the development of observation, im- 
agination, and artistic nature, and opening up a new world 
of enjoyment of lasting worth. 

Drawing, modeling, cutting, and making are modes of 
expression to be freely used along with oral and written ex- 
ercises. 

Formal lessons. Language forms are arbitrary. They can- 
not be reasoned out, but must be presented as custom has 
fixed them, then made habitual through repeated drills in 
use. The emphasis of these drills should be placed on the 
stumbling-blocks, the incorrect forms of speech heard in the 
talk of the children. These incorrect forms will mostly be in 
the uses of certain nouns, pronouns, verbs, and contractions, 
and in the disagreement of subject and verb. The most 
common are hkely to be with I, me; is, are; was, were; has, 
have; saw, seen; did, done; this, that; these, those; ain't, aint 
got; set, sit; and certain plurals as mice, feet, etc. The teacher 
should keep a notebook of errors heard in play or at other 
times, and make opportunities for drill to correct. Questions 
may be asked to call forth repHes using forms to be corrected. 
The proper forms must be presented and further opportuni- 
ties offered for correct use. 

At first it is not best to stop a pupil in a story or conversa- 
tion to correct a bad form used. This mode of correction in- 
terferes with best expression, and tends to make the pupil 
over-seK-conscious with strained attention on his language. 
Note should be made of such errors, so that at the time set 
aside for drill these may be brought in for practice. Drill 
must be persistent and tactful. Good usage must be pointed 



166 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

out in the selections read. ^ When the pupils begin to read 
freely, they will gradually take over the language of favorite 
literature; hence the wisdom of placing before them the 
choicest classic material. 

The language books used will furnish models for study 
and exercises for forming proper habits, but these must be 
supplemented just as the regular readers are in reading. 
There are many most excellent language books now in use, 
but to limit the lessons to these will make the work lifeless. 

Written forms. The forms used in writing must be the 
correct ones of oral speech, with additional ones coming 
under punctuation, capitals, spelling, letter forms, para- 
graphs, and margins. 

1. Written worJc in primary grades 

First year. Not a great amount of written work is de- 
manded of children the first year. There will be a copying of 
sentences, short rhymes, and stories for blackboard, chart, 
and cards. This copying should be exact in every detail, any 
omission being pointed out for correction. The place of the 
period and question mark at the end of sentences, capital 
letters at the beginning of sentences and of every word in 
proper names, also the pronoun I — all need to be stressed 
in this year. The expression will nearly all be imitative, but 
toward the end of the year some opportunity to write original 
sentences should be given. These may be prompted by re- 
quests to write statements of what was seen on the way to 
school, what games are liked best, what seen in a picture, or 
something suggested by a poem or story. 

In elliptical sentences and other drills the correct use of 
is, are, was, were, come, came, saw, seen can be impressed this 
year. 

Second year. The work may be taken up with exercises 
of review of usages taught the first year. The written work 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 167 

this year will be nearly all imitative as in the preceding year, 
but original statements may be extended from short sen- 
tences to a short paragraph at a time toward the end of 
the year. 

Some sort of story or conversation work should nearly 
always prepare for the writing, so that the child has his 
material in mind for copy or for suggestions prompting 
originality. 

Punctuation may be extended to the use of the comma 
after direct address, or before it if the name comes at the 
end of the sentence; also the comma where there are omis- 
sions, and the apostrophe with contractions and with posses- 
sive singulars. 

Drills must be continued on simple word forms of common 
blunders. Simple letter forms can be used to advantage this 
year, using only simple address, — as, Dear Uncle, — and 
concluding with signature, the body of the letter to contain 
a few simple sentences. If the work of the school brings in 
any abbreviations, the punctuation of these must be ob- 
served. 

Third year. The work may now become more original, but 
forms must first be presented for imitation. Punctuation is 
to be extended to the use of quotation marks and capitals 
with direct quotations, and to the apostrophe in possessive 
plurals. Attention should be called to examples of these in 
the readers, then practice brought in through dictation. 

Letter forms now take in the address of the writer at the 
beginning, and letters need to be freely used to report plant 
or animal descriptions, stories, dictation, and other school 
work. 

Paragraphing begins to come in for attention. Examples 
are to be noted in the readers. Questions or topics given as a 
guide to paragraphing, with instructions to begin the line 
properly for each answer or topic treatment, will give good 



168 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

practice for beginners. Paragraphs are divisions of thought, 
and immature minds are incapable of much analysis of 
thought. Paragraphing must be handled concretely at first; 
originality in division is not to be expected until later. 

Spelling must be watched throughout all written work. 

Best specimens of written work are to be hung up, carried 
home to show to parents, and recalled for exhibition on 
special days. 

2, Written work in upper grades; composition worh 
The textbooks for language teaching usually begin with 
the fourth grade, the first book planned for two years, the 
second book for two or three years. These books can be 
used to good advantage by a teacher with several grades, 
but even after the book comes in for use the independent 
lessons still have a large place, which will increase as the 
number of grades to the teacher decrease. A good text will 
present lessons bringing in all the varieties of material pre- 
viously mentioned, and the second book will contain all the 
grammar necessary to be taught below the eighth or ninth 
grade. 

In addition to the three qualities before mentioned, ac- 
curacy, fluency, and taste, two others come in for stress in 
the upper grades. These are originality and sequence, or 
orderly thought. Both of these have had a beginning in 
the third-year grade. Many topics and preparatory lessons 
should stimulate originality, and pupils must be encouraged 
to express what develops in their own minds. 

Sequence. Children have a tendency to ramble. This 
tendency manifests itself in untrained, untutored minds, 
even of adults. Paragraph topics, given to teach the form of 
paragraphing, direct attention to thought sequence. A divi- 
sion of a story into parts, or stages, calling on a pupil to re- 
produce the first part, another the second, still another the 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 169 

third, and so on until the story is completed, is a good pre- 
liminary exercise. Topics representing the stages may be 
put upon the board for guidance. Later on pupils may assist 
the teacher in selecting and arranging such topics after a 
story has been heard or read. Then the pupils may be given 
a story, essay, or composition to make their own thought 
divisions of it and to assign appropriate topics to the divi- 
sions. 

Preparation in advance for a composition should call for 
an outline, or list of points, to be covered in the composition. 
Suppose the exercise is to consist of a description of some 
person: (1) The approach comes in for first consideration. 
Where and when was the person seen for this description? 
This gives a setting. (2) Physical points: size, complexion, 
eyes, hair. (3) Mental and social traits : disposition — cheer- 
ful, happy, genial, good-natured, friendly, popular, etc. (4) 
Some appropriate concluding sentences: What has he done 
or been? 

Though the main part may consist of faithful description, 
variety and originality in approach and finish should be 
encouraged instead of the " I-take-my-pen-in-hand " style. 
Soon the topical outline becomes a requirement for every 
composition. This outline logically comes at the beginning 
of the composition. There should not be a multiplicity of 
topics to detract from the main thought divisions. Grad- 
ually a topical outline system will be learned so as to bring 
in subtopics, and later divisions of subtopics. These need to 
appear throughout the composition in the order of the out- 
line plan. 

The logical procedure in conducting recitations and guid- 
ing study in all school subjects will contribute to sequence of 
thought. The points in order in a lesson in history, geog- 
raphy, or agriculture should be called for first before a dis- 
cussion of these points. Pupils need to be trained to pick 



170 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

out and arrange the points as a part of the preparation of 
the lesson. This conduces to logical study rather than to 
committing to memory. 

Types of compositions. In order to guide the teacher 
further in giving variety to the subject-matter, the following 
types are suggested: — 

1. Narration: story, anecdote, biography. 

2. Description: places, persons, animals, plants, phe- 
nomena. 

3. Exposition: Debatable questions come in here. 

4. Imagination: imaginary journeys, happenings, places, 
people, personification. This may include imaginary 
Narration, Exposition, Description, or a combination 
of these. Originality finds good play, and humor will 
have its opportunity in the play of the imagination. 

5. Subjects for compositions: It is important to make 
the composition work as real as possible. The follow- 
ing topics are suggested as types: — 

Boys 

The best way to catch rats. 

How to catch a frisky horse. 

The hired man, and his work. 

Should a boy own a dog. 

How to run a Ford. 

How to dam a creek. 

How to make a rabbit trap. 

How I raised my corn crop. 

How we won the ball game. 

How to keep bees. 

Should a boy play marbles for keeps. 

Girls 

My room. 

How to set the table. 

How to get a good breakfast. 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 171 

How to can tomatoes. 

Ought boys and girls to take piano lessons. 

The worst boy I ever knew. 

The things I like best. 

How to be happy on the farm. 

Making compositions real. The compositions and letters 
should now treat largely the affairs of real life. This does 
not mean that they are to be limited to business dealings. 
The friendly, social letter in days gone by was often a gem 
of writing. Letter-writing was then a fine art. If children 
can correspond with other children in distant parts of the 
State, the Nation, or the world, and exchange compositions 
occasionally, they will be stimulated to great endeavor in 
the direction of composition as an art. Teachers may readily 
arrange with other teachers the plans for such correspond- 
ence. Any method of keeping the work in touch with real 
life will add needed zest, vitahty, and inspiration. 

Correction of compositions. This is a great bugbear with 
nearly every teacher of Enghsh. The work has been more 
burdensome than it should be. Pupils should be led to find 
more of their own errors, and some pupils may assist greatly 
in correcting the work of others. Teachers must read the 
compositions to be able to indicate the nature of the errors. 
A small check-mark may be made where an error appears, 
and the pupil must try to discover the error. Failing to do 
so, he must make inquiry. Better pupils may read and 
check the compositions of the slower ones. If a composition 
is very poor, the better pupil checking it may take the writer 
to one side, talk over the faults, and encourage him to write 
another to go to the teacher. 

If pupils are arranged in groups for composition lessons 
and different topics assigned to the groups, the brighter ones 
may be assigned topics calling for more than is exj^ected of 
the duller ones, and all kept profitably employed. Then the 



172 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

better ones have the extra work of helping with the reading 
and correcting. 

Occasionally the teacher must take time to go around the 
room during a composition period to observe the work at the 
desks. Cautions may be timely given to avoid some errors. 
Carelessness, untidiness, poor spelling, faulty arrangement, 
etc., may be pointed out for improvement. Care should be 
taken not to give too much assistance, yet a hint in time may 
prevent nine other errors, and a better habit of work may be 
developed. 

At times some papers should be read to the class prior to 
any reading by the teacher, and comments called out on it 
as read. At other times papers selected by the teacher should 
be read, generally the ones showing improvement or the ones 
whose writers are to be encouraged to have a better paper 
for next time. 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Barnes, W. English in the Country School. (Row, Peterson & Co.) 
Charters, W. W. Teaching the Common Branches. (Houghton Mifflin 

Company.) 
Kendall and Mirick. How to Teach the Fundamental Subjects. (Houghton 

Mifflin Company.) 
Klapper, Paul. The Teaching of English. (D. Appleton & Co.) 
Leiper, M. A., Language Work in Elementary Schools. (Ginn & Co.) 
Excellent for rural schools. 

Leonard, S. A. English Composition as a Social Problem. (Houghton 
Mifflin Company.) 

II. Story-Telling 

Child life has two great realms of joy, play and story, and 
both of these are educational factors of incalculable value. 
The child gives himself up to them with complete abandon, 
and under the spell of wholesouled interest he is deeply im- 
pressed by what goes on in his consciousness during play or 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 173 

story experiences. Blind must we be to child nature and 
development if we go on ignoring these instruments of edu- 
cation or keeping them as merely incidental recreation. We 
must enter these realms to develop children through joyous 
self-expression. 

For best effect stories must be told rather than read. We 
are never too old to listen to a good story. Many stories must 
be read because of circumstances, but others are to be told 
for their heightened effects on the listener. Every teacher 
should practice the art of telling stories and develop the art 
among children; she should also give time to a study of 
stories adapted to different ages of child development. 

Some values. Stories call into play the imagination of the 
child in a most satisfying way. Nor is it the play of idle 
fancy, for a story may be made to stimulate thinking, stir 
the deepest emotions, and prompt the will to noble deeds. 
Stories depict life, giving the child a wide vision of good and 
evil at work. They enlarge the vocabulary, widen intelli- 
gence, and help greatly in character building. Through well- 
selected stories we teach morality and humanity far more 
effectively than we can preach them. Children are seldom 
violators of moral laws impressed through story. 

Since story-telling has been favored by the ages, has been 
one of the earliest of childhood's crafts, and so completely 
takes possession of the soul of the child, it must become a 
potent factor in lessons for most vivid, natural expression. 
The story is not only a great help to oral expression, it is 
a help to writing, thinking, memory, character, attention, 
interest, and good results in every school subject. 

Kinds of stories. Story-telling is a world-old art, and we 
have classic stories from various stages of development. 
Children first like the primitive stories given by a race in its 
childhood, and their tastes develop for stories in the order of 
racial development. 



174 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

1. Primitive stories. These came when a people were hv- 
ing close to nature. Primitive man dwelt more with animals, 
and he beheved that all nature had personality; even the 
stones, streams, and trees he believed to be the dwelling 
places of spirits of friends or enemies. Stories which thus 
personify nature and more especially deal with animals are 
early favorites, chief among which are the Uncle Remus 
tales of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. These are folk-lore 
stories. Rhymes and jingle stories, like these primitive ones, 
make their appeal to the senses. 

2. Myths and legends. The myths are more mature than 
the simpler folk-lore tales described in the preceding para- 
graph. They begin to show more reflection, especially in 
wonder as to the origin of things. The old Norse myths and 
those of the American Lidian are of the most wholesome 
types for children. 

3. Fairy stories and fables. These are make-believe stories 
of types described, yet only believed for the moment as fancy 
plays. The myths and legends were believed, the fairy story 
just make-believed. The primitive animism is still present 
endowing all sorts of things and people in a supernatural 
way, bringing out the perpetual struggle of good with evil. 
Animals and plants are people masquerading, which be- 
havior appeals strongly to childish interests. 

A fable is a kind of a squeezed-down fairy story with a 
moral. Some fables are good, but they are so short that they 
lack details to make them vivid, and the moral is an appeal 
to reflection, hence a more mature fairy tale. Allegories, as 
Bunyan's Pilgrim*s Progress, and parables, as those of the 
Bible, are still more mature stories of a kindred nature, yet 
calling for older minds to grasp the meaning. 

4. Hero stories. These are myths and legends crystallized 
about men as great heroes. The epic stories of the ancients 
are illustrations. Superstitions in those days held to a belief 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 175 

in all sorts of gods who could favor men in a supernatural 
way. The old epic tales of Greece and Rome are part history, 
part mythology; yet wonderfully finished, classic stories. 
Stories of King Arthur and his Ejiights of the Round Table 
are great favorites in this group. 

5. Stories of real life. These are the stories of real heroes 
of history and stories of historical events. In the third year 
in school, if not before, the child will begin to ask for " sure- 
enough" stories, thus showing his maturing interests. He 
wants a wonder story in part, but he is interested in people 
who do things. Simple and interesting biography of real life 
really comes before the great epics. These epics appeal to 
minds in the adolescent stage when romance is dawning or 
holding sway. 

Stories of adventure are of great interest to children in 
this period of development. 

6. Romantic stories. These are the romances of life told in 
fiction. Not until the age of adolescence is nearly through 
are young people ready for the romances of the novel. These 
stories belong in the latter part of the high-school period and 
later. They have little place in the elementary school. 

This brief of the kinds of stories, in order of their develop- 
ment, will give some idea of the stories to select for children 
of different ages. Older children will listen to stories for 
younger ones, but a story should not be beyond the years of 
the child, and his experiences must have been such as to 
enable him to comprehend the scenes, characters, etc., of the 
story. 

Telling the stories. In telling the story, the introduction 
should catch the attention, and then the narrator should be 
assured of more than passive interest as the story proceeds. 
A teacher with a class should make free use of questions as 
the story develops. This will keep the listeners' minds active 
and provoke thoughtfulness. Let us suppose that the story 



176 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

is Robinson Crusoe, and that this story has advanced to 
where Crusoe came to his senses after being washed ashore 
senseless from the shipwreck. What do you think he did 
first? 1 will tell you what he really did. He knelt and 
returned thanks to God for his dehverance. What would 
he want to find out first? How would he try to find out 
whether any companions escaped? Where do you think he 
slept that night? These are samples of questions to ask 
as the story moves forward, time being given to hear the 
children's responses before the story proceeds to answer the 
question and move on further for another question. 

We cannot here go into details of method in telling stories. 
There are a few interesting manuals for this work named at 
the end of this topic. Rural schools have been rather shy of 
story telUng, and it is hoped that the little here said will 
induce many rural teachers to take it up. Many valuable 
Bible stories may be told in the opening exercises of a morn- 
ing. These may come from Old Stories of the East (American 
Book Company) or similar sources, and used even where the 
Bible is not read. For moral instruction a most excellent 
series of six books, The Golden Rule Series (Macmillan Com- 
pany) gives a large collection of stories of merit graded and 
classified. These are excellent source books for the teacher. 
The playground at times may be taken over for a story hour. 
A story circle may be organized in upper classes, and another 
in the neighborhood. 

Under history more will be said of stories. The point to 
be stressed here is, whether used for literature, history, na- 
ture, or morals, the story is an excellent bit of language ma- 
terial, and it has merits for its own sake as well as for all these 
other purposes. 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 177 



BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Bailey, C. S. For the Story-Teller. (Milton Bradley Company.) 

Stories classified and good story programs. 

Bryant, S. C. Eow to Tell Stories to Children. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 

Many stories are included. Excellent. 

Cowles, J. D. The AH of Story Telling. (A. C. McClurg & Co.) 

Includes stories and new suggestions. 

Forbush, W. B. Manual of Stories. (American Institute of Child Life, 
Philadelphia.) 

A complete and valuable list of stories, story-books, etc. Excellent as a manual to 
study. 

Hall, John. The Question as a Factor in Teaching Stories. (Houghton 
Mifflin Company.) 

Thorough treatment of the question method. 



III. Picture Lessons 

School use of pictures. Pictures are to be used as sources 
of language material, as art studies for the development of 
appreciation, and as helps in teaching many topics in geog- 
raphy, nature, history, and literature. The pictures chosen 
for language lessons should be choice products of art, then 
the appreciation of art may be a correlated purpose with 
language training, just as the appreciation of literature cor- 
relates with stories in language lessons. The appreciation 
aim in art ranks with this aim in literature as of great value 
for the development of the aesthetic nature of the child, thus 
opening to him new worlds of uplifting joy for life. 

Pictures for language lessons. Mention was made in 
Part I of this book of the use of pictures on the walls of the 
schoolroom. We are concerned more especially here with 
pictures for language lessons. The ones on the wall should be 
studied for appreciation, and language lessons may be de- 
veloped in connection with this study. But many pictures 



178 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

should contribute to the life of the school, some large ones 
to be exhibited before the class for study, some small ones for 
individual use. These generally should be copies of famous 
pictures, and always should be artistically good. They may 
be found in the language books, readers, magazines, and 
calendars. Several houses (as The Perry Picture Company, 
Maiden, Massachusetts) make artistic copies for sale at 
prices varying from one cent to seventy-five cents or higher. 
The one-cent and five-cent ones are excellent for individual 
use. For the smaller children some pictures in colors are 
desirable, and the ones used for study with these children 
should not include too many objects. 

Kinds of picture lessons. The lesson may deal with mere 
description of what is seen in the picture; it may include the 
description and imaginary story told by the picture; or it 
may study the picture as a work of art. 

Suggestions of methods. Description is the simplest, 
hence it comes first. The child will see isolated objects, 
and the teacher must lead him to relate these to the central 
figure. Observation should be tested by calling the children 
to name what they see. Through questioning, observation 
must be made complete and thoughtful. Relating all to a 
central figure will make for thoughtfulness, and a definite 
order of questioning will extend observation. This order 
might call for objects in the (1) background, (2) foreground, 
(3) right, (4) left, or for any similar systematic procedure of 
thoroughness. If there are people in the picture, after ob- 
servation of objects in general, the appearance, name, acts, 
and character of each person may be topics for questions. 
Imagination may be called in to depict the past, interpret 
the present, and suggest the future, care being taken to caU 
out from the children the reasons prompting their state- 
ments. There will be a tendency of the imagination to run 
wild, and thoughtful reasons will curb this, as will also the 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 179 

development around the central figure or theme of the 
picture. 

For the final story or description, topics or questions may 
at first be put on the board to direct the order and to guide 
in paragraphing. 

Sometimes, after a large picture has been studied by the 
class, smaller copies of it may be given to individual members 
to use in writing the story. Sometimes small copies of pic- 
tures not previously studied may be given to the children to 
make their own study, and write the story or tell it without 
promptings from the teacher. This exercise will develop 
originality and will test the progress of the learners. 

Another very valuable lesson is one using small penny 
pictures to illustrate a story, poem, or composition. The 
teacher may tell a story for reproduction, then distribute two 
or three related pictures to each child who is to use these, 
set in the margins, to illustrate his written story. A small 
deposit of money should be requested to cover the cost of 
these and other material the teacher is to supply when 
needed. 

The teacher should have in mind the orderly development 
expected, and should either write out questions to be fol- 
lowed or topics to guide in the questioning. Secure copies of 
the following Perry Pictures and use in studying the illus- 
trations: — 

Illustration 1. The Pet Bird (Perry Picture No. 792) 
To'pics 

1. Objects seen in the picture. 

2. The feeling of the children for the bird. 

3. The bird's feelings. 

4. Why the bird is tame. 

5. Value of the bird to the children. 

6. Care of birds around us. 



180 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 



Illtistration 2. The Shepherdess, LeRolle (Perry Picture 
No. 618) 

For more advanced children. The Shepherdess, LeRolle. (Perry Picture 
No. 618). This is good for a wall picture, or small, individual copies may be 
used for the language notebooks. 

Topics 

What do you see in this picture? (Let the pupils name all they 
can see. Then question for more.) 

Do you all see the man? What is he dbing? What makes you 
think so? What is he driving? (Horse or ox? Let them discuss this 

fuUy.) 

What in the background to the right? How many stacks? Are 
these of hay, straw, or what? Look for something very near the 
large stack. (See if they discern something like a man on a donkey.) 

What in the background to the left? What on the ground to the 
left of the trees? (Log or field roller? What kind of trees?) 

What time of day? How do the sheep help to answer this? What 
makes it appear that it rained the night before? Is it warm or cool 
after the rain? What does the weather promise further? 

What time of year is it? (Evidences from the ploughing, the 
stacks, the leaves, the wool on the sheep, etc.) 

Center attention on the shepherdess, eliciting comments on 
dress, appearance, evidences of strength, health, work, disposition, 
etc. What appearances of friendliness? (Note sheep in pairs.) 

Note that the man is indistinct. (Is he white or black?) The 
horse, stacks, leaves, clouds, etc., are vague, indefinite. Which are 
the things in the picture which are most distinct? What the center 
of these? What the effect as a whole, one of hurry, bustle, noise? 
(The artist has made the shepherdess the center, and the effect is 
one of a world all at peace.) 

Show LeRolle's By the River (Perry Picture No. 619). The effect 
is similar. 

Exercises to follow 

1. A description of the picture. What do you like in it? 

2. A day with the shepherdess. 

3. A year with the sheep. 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 181 

These illustrations are for primary grades. As children 
advance they should be more fully initiated into the deeper 
meaning of each picture as intended by the artist. Something 
of the life of the artist and the nature of his pictures should 
be told to the pupils of the upper grades, and a brief history 
of art is good in the high school. 

There are many pictures which are of pecuhar interest for 
rural schools, since they depict farm life and outdoor scenes, 
and help to develop a fondness for the open country. The 
following are some artists who have given us such pictures: 
Landseer, Millet, Rosa Bonheur, Dupre, LeRolle, Troyon, 
Corot, Constable, Herring. There are others, but from these 
quite a list of favorites with children can be selected, some of 
them large ones in colors for the walls. 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Grover and Chutter, Art Life Readers. (Atkinson, Mentzer Company.) 
Cyr, E. M., Graded Art Readers. (Ginn & Co.) 

Home and Scobey, Stories of Great Artists. (American Book Company.) 
Hurll, E. M., How to Show Pictures to Children. (Houghton Mifflin 
Company.) 

PICTURE DEALERS 

Perry Picture Company, Maiden, Massachusetts. 
The Prang Educational Company, Chicago, New York. 
G. P. Brown & Co., Beverly, Massachusetts. Some pictures one-half cent 
each. 



IV. Grammar 

Some values. Grammar is the science of language. Its 
field is the study of the relations of words in sentences. These 
relations determine the correct forms we should use in speak- 
ing and writing. The study of grammar should give one the 
ability to choose correct forms of speech. Loose, inaccurate 
forms are learned in childhood. As we grow older we should 



182 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

be able to examine critically our forms of speech. The rules 
of grammar are the standards for measurement or criticism. 
One familiar with these rules should be able to reason for 
himself whether the expression, between you and I and the 
gafeposty is correct, and likewise with any expression to de- 
termine its propriety. It may be said that a person may be- 
come skillful in parsing and analyzing, and yet not speak 
grammatically. If so, such a person has gained almost 
nothing from the study of grammar. Here we study a science 
that it may guide us in the art. If one is deficient in the art 
of speaking correctly, that one is discounted in the business 
world and in social circles where people of education and 
culture are in the majority. This should be motive enough 
for an interest in grammar. 

A study of the sentence grammatically should lead to 
its improvement rhetorically. Sentences should be well 
rounded, not unbalanced; closely knit together, not loose 
and rambling; and strong and forceful, not weak in con- 
veying the thought. The placing of the phrases, adjectives, 
and adverbs will have much to do with the rhetorical val- 
ues, as will also the choice of words previously referred to 
as good taste, a quality of expression. 

Thus it may be seen that a study of parts of speech, sub- 
jects, predicates, modifiers, kinds of sentences, phrases, 
clauses, and agreement should be a valuable aid to all good 
verbal expression. 

Where to be taught. Through language lessons from the 
first correct forms are instilled, and in composition and 
literature the strength, beauty, and symmetry of the sen- 
tence, the paragraph, the poem, the memory gem, or the com- 
plete classic are all matters of attention. Thus, through con- 
crete practice the lessons aim at ideal expression. In the first 
three grades this work is done without a special text. The 
texts for language lessons are generally adapted to the fourth 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 183 

and fifth grades, and the second book to the sixth and sev- 
enth grades. Some simple studies of the kinds of sentences, 
subjects, predicates, and parts of speech may be included in 
the first language text. In the second text, for upper grades, 
principles of grammar are scattered throughout the book. 
This book nearly always presents as much of technical 
grammar as should be given below the high school. Many 
of these second books are built too exclusively on the basis 
of grammar, rather than upon the basis of composition. 

It seems that language texts must be used in the rural 
schools. These help in the economy of time, and they present 
the matter for drills on such forms as punctuation, capitaliza- 
tion, letter- writing, paragraphing, and grammatical forms of 
ordinary speech. But we wish to stress again that other lan- 
guage material and lessons should supplement these books 
along lines already discussed. These are needed for interest 
as well as for effectiveness. And it is largely conceded that 
a rigid study of English grammar should not be undertaken 
before the eighth-year grade, and we add that this year 
should preferably be in the high school. Grammar presents 
the logic of the language, and hence calls for maturity of 
reflection. A study of this kind forced prematurely upon the 
mind of a child kills interest and threatens with arrested 
development. After all, the amount of grammar that should 
be taught in the elementary school is small. The other work 
in language is the important part of elementary English. If 
the second language book in use contains too much technical 
grammar, only certain portions should be selected, and time 
saved for the composition, literature, story, and picture 
studies. All the niceties of nomenclature, complicated struc- 
ture, and other difficulties of grammar should be postponed 
for high school study. The important things in a formal way 
are the correct forms of everyday speech, sj)elling, punc- 
tuation, letter forms, and paragraphing. These should be 



184 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

thoroughly encompassed by the end of the seventh year. 
Then only a year of special study need be given to grammar. 

Inductive-deductive method. Whenever a rule or defini- 
tion is to be taught, modern practice proceeds inductively. 
Concrete examples are presented and comparisons lead to a 
generalization which, formulated, gives the rule or defi- 
nition. 

Illustration. Compare the following sentences, noting 
wherein they are different: — 

1. John, close the shutters, for a storm is coming. 

2. The sky is overcast with clouds, but I do not look for a rain, 
because the clouds are coming from the wrong direction for 
rain. 

How many statements in each? Point out the subject and 
predicate of each statement? Each statement is called a clause. 
Make me a definition of a clause. 

Which are the clauses in the following ? " A tart temper mel- 
lows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that 
grows keener with constant use.'* 

When a definition or rule has been taught, it should be 
formulated in the language of the pupils, then restated in the 
language of the book when this is better, and thoroughly 
memorized. Repetition in drill will fix it in memory. 

Diagramming. A diagram is a graphic analysis of a sen- 
tence. It is a help for many children in analysis. There are 
dangers in its use too extensively, though these dangers are 
sometimes magnified. The diagram came freely into use 
nearly thirty years ago, and later came a movement to dis- 
card it. It still holds a place, however, in the teaching of 
analysis. It is something concrete and tangible, and is more 
interesting to children than is verbal analysis. It empha- 
sizes that a place must be made for every word in the sentence 
and the pupil sees the diagram grow until it takes in every 
word. The teacher should illustrate this frequently by dia- 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 185 

gramming at the board sentences for the older pupils, and 
showing them the construction and analysis of the sentence. 
With satisfactory blackboard space, the teacher can also 
assign sentences to pupils for diagrams on the board; then 
she can watch them develop their sentences. There is quite 
an advantage in seeing the work of pupils in this way. Their 
habits of work are noticeable, and, if they hesitate, the 
teacher can detect the stumbling-block. Probably a hint will 
remove the trouble. A teacher can also save time by hearing 
some other class while waiting for the completed diagrams. 
With the class at attention each pupil should analyze his 
sentence, other pupils criticizing. If there is not enough time 
for the analysis of all, the teacher has the advantage of an 
opportunity to glance over the work later. At the next 
recitation, pupils may be called upon to analyze these same 
sentences orally without diagrams. This may gradually 
divorce pupils from diagrams, and enable them to give the 
full analysis of sentences orally. 

The case is not unlike one in the teaching of arithmetic 
where problems may be worked out on the board or tablet 
and explained, or they may be solved in the mind as we do in 
mental arithmetic. The solution with pencil or chalk is the 
common one, and mental arithmetic is neglected. The re- 
verse is true in grammar when oral analysis is insisted upon 
with little or no diagramming. 

The writer remembers his experience when a pupil study- 
ing grammar. He became quite proficient in oral analysis, 
but when introduced to diagramming, there was a great re- 
vival of interest in grammar. So we say, use the diagrams, 
but do not fail to have oral analysis along with them. 

Parsing should follow analysis. Analysis partly sorts the 
words for parsing and indicates much of what parsing will 
state. 

In many rural schools too much time is given to grammar, 



186 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

with very meager results. It is urged that this time be 
shortened, the subject hmited to practical essentials, and 
more time given to the other phases of language. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. An increasing number of educators now hold that English grammar 
has no place as a separate study in the elementary schools. Discuss. 

2. Can you cite any case where diagramming has led to a weakening of 
results? 

3. Outline the many correlations of language lessons. 

4. What are the mechanical facts to be taught in written forms? 

5. How organize to prevent children from scattering too widely in oral 
language of the different types? 

6. Discuss motivation of language work. 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Charters, W. W. Teaching the Common Branches. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 

Chubb, P. The Teaching of English. (The Macmillan Company.) 

Has a chapter on Grammar in the Elementary School. 

Kendall and Mirick. How to Teach the Fundamental Subjects. (Houghton 
Mifflin Company.) 

Leiper, M. A. Language Work in Elementary Schools. (Ginn & Co.) 
A most valuable and suggestive book. Good for rural teachers. 

McMurry, Chas. Special Method in Language. (The Macmillan Com- 
pany.) 



CHAPTER XI 

SPELLING 

Two important tool subjects. The study of English in- 
volves two subordinate though very important tool sub- 
jects — spelling and penmanship. From the very beginning 
we jSnd these necessary subordinates in the teaching of read- 
ing and all written language. Since written language is called 
in increasingly as we advance from the primary fields of 
learning, these two tools are important throughout. Their 
subordinate functions have led some theorists to abandon 
both spelling and penmanship as subjects for separate 
lessons. They have rejected spelling books and have selected 
words for spelling from reading, history, and other daily 
subjects. But the spelling book, after passing through this 
furnace of criticism, trial, and error, has been returning, 
though changed in its content. Spelling needs to be given 
some special time in the program for attention for its own 
sake. Penmanship has gone through similar trials to re- 
construction. The same argument that would entirely rele- 
gate these to incidental teaching would eliminate also the 
special lessons in reading, after the primary mechanics are 
mastered, and reading would be taught incidentally in con- 
nection with history, geography, and other school subjects. 
But special lessons in reading are valuable throughout the 
elementary years, even though reading correlates closely 
with classic literature and well- written history; and we claim 
for spelling and the spelling book a special place in the 
regular schedule. 

Some faults in teaching spelling. One fault in the teaching 
of spelling in rural schools needs to be pointed out in this 



188 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

connection. Spelling has been made too much of a special 
and independent subject, and this has led to giving it a dis- 
proportionate amount of time as a special branch, and also 
to its neglect in other school subjects. The spelling books 
have been filled with unnecessary words, and the pupils 
treated for phthisic, idiosyncrasy , incompatihility, and other 
spelling monstrosities, when the diagnosis should have 
prompted treatment for grammery phisiology, america, and 
other simple disorders. Another rather common fault in all 
schools has been in the quality of teaching called forth by 
spelling. Some group of words is designated for the next 
lesson, and the method of the recitation is entirely the testing 
one. No thought is given to the assignment, which is sup- 
posed to be planned by the spelling book, no training in the 
art of studying the words, no pedagogical skill in the develop- 
ment of the lesson. 

Needed reforms. To improve the spelling work in our 
schools the following reforms are needed: — 

1. The word lists for spelling must be made up with 
greater care. 

2. More attention must be given to pedagogical method 
in teaching spelling. 

3. Pupils must be made self-helpful through the use of 
the dictionary. 

Selection of words. A number of careful studies have been 
made recently to ascertain the vocabularies of children of 
various school ages, and the vocabularies used by adults in 
the business of life, to serve as guides in the selection of word 
lists for spelling. One of the first was made by Ayres, of the 
Russell Sage Foundation, and published under the title of 
The Spelling Vocabularies of Personal and Business Letters. 
Another was made by Cook and O'Shea, of the University 
of Wisconsin, authors of The Child and His Spelling. These 
authors have recently edited a spelling book along the lines 



SPELLING 189 

of their conclusions, based on concrete studies of vocabula- 
ries. The superintendent and teachers of New Orleans stud- 
ied the vocabularies of their children, and compiled a sj>ell- 
ing list for each grade. These lists are printed on sheets of 
paper, which are used as spelling books, and they make an 
excellent guide for the study of local words. 

Small number of words needed. One of the most inter- 
esting recent studies was that made by Ayres, of the Russell 
Sage Foundation, to determine the most commonly used 
words in the English language.^ Ayres combined the results 
of four studies, two based on the letters of people, one up>on 
newspapers, and one upon selections from standard literature. 
In all 368,000 words, written by 2500 different persons, were 
used. Ayres intended originally to pick out the two thousand 
most commonly used words, but he found that approxi- 
mately half of the 368,000 words was made up of only fifty 
words, and that, to obtain one thousand words, he had to 
include words used but forty-four times in 368,000, while to 
compile a list of two thousand words he would have had to in- 
clude many seldom-used words. These one thousand words 
of Ayres, given in the Spelling Scale, constitute the best 
statement we now have of the one thousand foundation 
words of the English language, and the best test we now 
have of the efficiency of a class in spelling.^ 

Another study, made by Professor Jones, of the University 

* Ayres, S. P. Measurement of Spelling Ability. Bulletin, Division of 
Education, Russell Sage Foundation (1915). 

2 The words on the Ayres Measuring Scale for Spelling one thousand in 
all, have been arranged in twenty-six lists, as will be seen, and the per- 
centage which each grade of pupils should be able to spell correctly is 
given at the top. For example, take list L. A second-grade class should 
be able to spell correctly fifty per cent of these words, a third-grade class 
seventy-three per cent, and a seventh-grade class all of them. Perhaps it 
is not too much to demand that children should be so drilled on these one 
thousand fundamental English words that by the time they leave school 
they ought to be able to spell all of them correctly. 



190 



TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 



of North Dakota,^ is also interesting. He examined 75,000 
compositions written by 1050 school pupils, and got a total 
of 15,000,000 words. Examinilig these he found a total of 
only 4532 different words used. 

The " One Hundred Spelling Demons." Jones also col- 
lected a list of the one hundred most commonly misspelled 
words, which he called the "One Hundred Spelling Demons 
of the English Language." These we reproduce below, for 
the information of all teachers. 



which 


can't 


guess 


they 


their 


sure 


says 


half 


there 


loose 


having 


break 


separate 


lose 


just 


buy 


don't 


Wednesday 


doctor 


again 


meant 


country 


whether 


very 


business. 


February 


believe 


none 


many 


know 


knew 


week 


friend 


could 


laid 


often 


some 


sums 


tear 


whole 


been 


Tuesday 


choose 


won't 


since 


wear 


tired 


cough 


used 


answer 


grammar 


piece 


always 


two 


minute 


raise 


where 


too 


any 


a^he 


woman 


ready 


much 


read 


done 


forty 


beginning 


said 


hear 


hour 


blue 


hoarse 


here 


trouble 


though 


shoes 


write 


among 


coming 


to-night 


writing 


busy 


early 


wrote 


heard 


built 


instead 


enough 


does 


color 


easy 


truly 


once 


making 


through 


sugar 


would 


dear 


every 


straight 



The above one hundred words, together with the Ayres 

one thousand, which he uses in his revised Spelling Scale,^ 

should be known by all pupils. 

^ Jones, N. Franklin, Concrete Investigations of the Material of English 
Spelling, Bulletin, University of North Dakota (1913). 
^ 2 Xh^ scale, reproduced as Figure 12 in this book, will also be found 

























"R 


s 


T 


u 


V 


w 


X 


Y 


z 


SECOND> 


- 


















GRADE 






















~ 


^fOURTH 
^GRADE 




.FIFTH 
^GRADE 




.SIXTH 
^GRAOE 




.SEVENTH 
^GRAOE 






50 




56 


58 


60 




r9 


73 


66 


58 


50 




38 


84 


79 


73 


66 


58 


50 




34 


92 


88 


84 


79 


73 


66 


58 


50 




-ooa 


often 


guess 


meant 


principal 


organization 


immediate 


decision 


ud m 






stopped 


circular 


earliest 


testimony 


emergency 


convenient 


principle 


recommend 




dinatioa 


motion 


argument 
volume 


whether 


discussion 


appreciate 


receipt 




allege 




se 


theater 


distinguish 


arrangement 


sincerely 


preliminary 








ibor 


improvement 


organize 


consideration 


reference 


athletic 


disappoint 


1 




1 


century 


summon 


colonies 


evidence 


extreme 


espec^aUy 








total 


official 


assure 


experience 


practical 








■Uin 


mention 


victim 


reUef 


session 


proceed 


commltte* 






T 


arrive 


esUmate 


pSly 


secretary 
association 


cordiaUy 


1 






supply 


accident 


character 






cation 


assist 


Invitation 


foreign 


career 


separata 






One 


difference 


accept 


expense 


height 


February 






rd 


examination 


Impossible 


responsible 






SS3 


particular 


concern 


beginning 






■a 


iffair 




application 






t 


course 


automobUe 


difficulty 








neither 


various 


scene 






t 


local 


decide 


anally 
develop 






dsa 


marriage 


entitle 






k 


further 


poUUcal 


drctunstance 






ire 


serious 


national 


issue 






al 


doubt 


recent 


material 








condition 


business 


suggest 






if 


government 


refer 


mere 






late 


opinion 


minute 


senate 






rent 


believe 


ought 


receive 






ct 


system 


absence 


respectfully 






isioo 


possibl9 


conference 


agreement 






rding 


piece 


Wednesday 


unfortunate 






idy 


certain 


really 


^tt 






itioa 


witness 


celebraUoD 






ation 


investigate 


folks 


citizen 






:tor 


therefore 




necessary 






ose 


too 




divide 






moa 


pleasant 








lond 










ther 










entioD 










:as« 










ner 










ire 
le 










Ice 










Ibnte 

nl 

>rrow 






Fig. 12. MEASURING SCALE FOR 




ider 

aat 






ABILITY IN SPELLING 




plete 

ch 

Hire 




















Oar 










:e«t 






Russell Sage Foundation, New York City 

Division of Education 

Leonard P. Ayres, Director 

The data of this scale are computed from an aggregate of 1,400,000 
spellings by 70,000 children in 84 cities throughout the country. The 
words are 1,000 in number and the list is the product of combining 
Jifferent studies with the object of identifying the 1,000 common- 
sst words in English writing. Copies of this scale may be obtained 
or five cents apiece. Copies of the monograph describing the inves- 
tigations which produced it may be obtained for 30 cents each. 








including the scale. Address the RusseU Sage Foimdatioa. Divi- 








sion of Education, 130 East 22d Street, New York City. 



SPELLING 191 

These studies indicate that the words used by educated 
people in general writing are less than four thousand — less 
than half the number usually given in a spelling book. Most 
people use a still smaller number. From the older spelling 
books certainly one haK of the words may be eliminated as 
uncommon, the spelling of which is a sheer waste of school 
time. 

Local vocabularies and spelling needs. The teacher 
should make a list of words from the children's vocabularies, 
in much the same manner as the list of expressions needed 
for drill in language forms is made. At first the ones pre- 
sented must be taken from the reading lessons of black- 
board, primer, and readers. Woven into these should be the 
vocabulary words chosen, and other words as needed in writ- 
ten language lessons. All of the words of the first two years 
will be so chosen. Li rural schools the spelling book may 
begin with the third year. If this book is of the old type, the 
teacher should ask the pupils to mark certain words for study, 
these words to be chosen by the teacher in accordance with 
the standards just described, due consideration being given 
to needed enlargement of children's vocabularies within the 
limits of the ordinary vocabulary of life. Any spelling book 
may thus be used to advantage in rural schools, though 
modern texts are the best. 

In any event, the spelling book is general, probably 
adapted to a wide area. The individual lists must supple- 
ment the spelling book by bringing in the troublesome words 
of common use and local words, names of local places, local 
history, and community industries. Pontchartrain is a word 
for a New Orleans list, but certainly not for one far away 
from there. Okra would appear in a Southern list, Kissim- 
mee in a Florida list, others in characteristic local lists. 

reproduced in Educational Tests and Measurements, by Monroe, De Voss, 
and Kelly — another volume in this series of textbooks. 



im TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

From history, geography, and other lessons Usts should be 
made as words appear, but not the uncommon geographical 
or other words of occasional need. In rural schools the par- 
ticular words applicable to agriculture and rural life should 
enter the lists. The more carefully adapted modern spelling 
book will reduce the supplementary list, but such a list is 
always necessary. 

Occasionally the pupil may be called upon to make a list for 
the next lesson, a list including everything needed in making 
a sponge cake, or in raising a boy's corn-club crop, or in 
raising and canning tomatoes, or names of kitchen utensils, 
fruits, groceries, and other lists of correlated words. The 
teacher can hear these lists or collect them for inspection, 
then select certain words for special drills. 

Methods of study. It is a good plan at times to have the 
words assigned for the next lesson written on the board. 
Pupils in turn should be called upon to pronounce a word in 
the list, give its meaning by definition, synonym, or illustra- 
tion, and use it in a sentence. Each is then to spell it. Other 
pupils may contribute to this study of the word. Another 
word is studied in the same way, and another until the list is 
completed. This lesson assignment will be a training lesson 
in studying. Volunteers may be called for to pronounce, give 
meaning, or use. Good sentences should be demanded in il- 
lustration of use, not mechanical, commonplace ones. Note 
the four things to learn of each word. 

Some schools have a regulation that ten words each day 
are to be given for such study. If these are new words calling 
for unusual study, ten will be too many. Sometimes the 
number may be larger. Pupils may be asked to note the 
words they are not sure of, to observe the difficult ones for 
special study, and to point out just wherein each difficulty 
lies. All these are suggestions for methods of study. Pupils 
need to be shown how to study words. Assignments like the 



SPELLING 193 

one suggested give the pupils the opportunity to see the 
words, to hear them pronounced, spelled, and used. They 
should then copy them for study. These studies are to pre- 
pare for independent study. 

No one method of general procedure should be rep>eated 
every day, for it will grow monotonous and deaden interest. 
Variety will help. The spelling lesson can be made and kept 
one of the most interesting of the school. 

Better methods in teaching spelling. The discussion as to 
whether spelling is best taught by an incidental or a drill 
method has recently been pretty conclusively settled in favor 
of drill. Incidental spelling is too often neglected spelling 
and the results under drill have everywhere been shown to be 
the better. Sometimes the drill is almost a waste of time be- 
cause of the emphasis on unused words, but it does ^ the 
spelling if persisted in. While the drill method in itself is 
superior, it may still be poor, viewed from a pedagogical 
standpoint. 

Assuming that the drill in spelling is to be intelligent drill, 
and that only a reasonably small number of commonly used 
words are to be used, there are certain psychological prin- 
ciples underlying drill which are important. In the first 
place, there must be sufficient repetition properly to fix the 
association of letters in the word. The repetition, too, must 
be attentive repetition, hence the importance of keeping a 
class wide awake during a spelling drill. In the third place, 
wrong associations should be avoided by calling the atten- 
tion of the pupils to errors they are very likely to make 
with certain words, and thus preventing their getting started 
wrong at the first. 

Dictionary work. In pronunciation and meaning, later in 
derivation to enrich meaning, the dictionary is essential. It 
is to be the instrument of guidance in such matters in after 
life, and pupils need lessons in its use. They should learn to 



194 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

manipulate it with facility, to interpret readily its treatment 
of any word, and to form the habit of using it. 

Simple work can begin with children in the fourth grade 
using a small primary dictionary. Some preliminary work 
needs to be done with the fourth grade, so that the fifth and 
sixth may be paired for alternation. The first work should 
consist of lessons with the teacher in finding words. The 
teacher may ask the pupils to find the first word beginning 
with marriy with hity with sily etc.. Then words may be 
given them to find; then to find and pronounce, and later to 
discuss meanings. 

We have known grown men unable to use the dictionary 
at the time of entering college. There is quite a jump from 
the ordinary word list to the dictionary, so much so that the 
use of the dictionary should demand special lessons. There 
are various meanings for the same word, preferred spellings 
and pronunciations, homonyms, synonyms, and derivations, 
all available in the dictionary. The key to pronunciation 
should be thoroughly learned, and practice given to applying 
it in finding the pronunciation, and in marking diacritically 
to indicate the pronunciation. This should be begun in a 
simple way in the fourth grade, and gradually extended 
through the upper grades and into the high school. Syllabi- 
cation should be stressed along with dictionary work and 
word study. 

Word study and spelling rules. In addition to diction- 
ary use, other factors contribute to making the pupils self- 
helpful. One of these already discussed in part is phonics. 
A study of phonics should be extended in connection with 
dictionary work. Word study, giving attention to deriva- 
tion, prefixes, and suffixes, contributes to power of inter- 
preting meanings of new words, and spelling rules give 
assistance in a similar way in the spelling of many words. 
Modern teaching develops a few good rules inductively, but 



SPELLING 195 

does not burden the memory with many rules and long lists 
of exceptions. This work, with rules and word study, be- 
longs in the higher elementary grades and the high school. 
If the elementary teacher will secure a copy of a good high- 
school manual treating orthography, orthoepy, syllabica- 
tion, and word study, and study it carefully, it will be of 
great assistance in the elementary lessons. 

Written and oral spelling. The use for spelling will be in 
writing, hence written spelling should occupy much of the 
spelling time. Writing the word will aid the memory. In the 
lower grades written spelling should be used almost alone. 
Spelling is a form of memorizing — a fixing of associations — 
and in the early years the writing of the words is one of the 
best means for fixing associations. 

In economy of time written spelling also makes each pupil 
spell many more words than oral spelhng can do. Some of 
the best exercises for natural use of spelling are dictation 
lessons, wherein the words are written in sentences. Capital- 
ization and punctuation are thus correlated best with spell- 
ing and language. A spelling-language tablet, preserving a 
pupil's work for some weeks, will exhibit progress and expose 
repetitions of errors previously corrected. Older pupils can 
aid the teacher with the correction of speUing papers. After 
a lesson is written, pupils may exchange tablets and correct 
for one another. The teacher should frequently inspect the 
papers corrected by pupils, and errors in spelling should be 
pointed out in every written paper the pupil prepares in 
school work. 

Oral spelling is not to be discarded. Quick oral spelling is 
necessary to test oral impressions in development work. 
Occasional oral spelling in class will serve a good purpose, 
and the spelling match is yet a valuable means of bringing in 
wholesome emulation with group rivalry. Failure and suc- 
cess are quite marked in the contest. The motivation for 



196 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

good spelling in the spelling match is unique. By all means 
have these contests for review occasions, but guard against 
the tendency to bring in uncommon and difficult words 
solely for the purpose of trapping. Only a few are made 
expert spellers in this way. 

In oral spelling, too, great care should be exercised by 
the teacher to pronounce carefully and accurately. If 
spelling by sound is to develop good spelling habits in 
pupils the pronunciation must be accurate. Such mis- 
spellings as 

histry afair Febuary 

curosity diffrence goverment 

may easily be due to inaccurate pronunciations by the 
teacher. 

Simplified spelling. Simplified spelling has attracted much 
attention recently, and it is to be regretted that this reform 
movement is not viewed with more liberal-mindedness. 
Language has been a growth. It is not yet a fixed and un- 
changeable thing. Spelling has had and is having its evolu- 
tion. When we can discover a definite tendency toward 
something simpler and better, we should hasten the evolu- 
tion reasonably and not await the results through slow- 
moving custom. In the making of early dictionaries and in 
other ways erroneous spellings have come in, and we should 
correct these. The Simplified Spelling Board is an organiza- 
tion of scholarly men who are studying these reforms, and 
who have made some valuable recommendations. Human 
nature is such that customs become almost sacred to many 
people. The customary way, like the habitual way, seems 
the easy and right way, and prejudices of ages always favor 
custom. This conservatism in our natures has blinded many 
to reasonableness of proposed reforms. Yet even whilst we 
are arguing we have nearly all accepted the change in spell- 



SPELLING 197 

ing program, just as we some time ago dropped the me from 
gramme. We now accept slur, fur, cur, etc.; then why jpurr 
and hurr ? Catalog, deoalog, and pedagog should shock only 
a demagog. 

This reform movement is not a tendency toward "spelling 
as we please,*' nor an attempt to reduce our language en- 
tirely to a phonetic basis. Teachers can help in the cam- 
paign for simpler spelling. The rules in full, with other in- 
teresting and valuable pamphlets, may be had free from 
The SimpHfied SpeUing Board, 18 Old SHp, New York City. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What points are gained through oral spelling? What through written 
spelling? Which is more desirable in lower grades? In upper grades? 

2. In connection with which subjects can spelling best be taught? 

3. Make a list of words connected with each of the following: — ■ 

(a) Fishing. (6) Hunting, (c) Canning, id) Gardening, (e) Athlet- 
ics. (J) Nature Study, {g) Local geography and history. 
What other groups do you suggest? 

4. Which spelling rules have been of help to you? Practice pupils in illus- 
tration of rules with words of their own choosing. 

5. Make a summary of points for and against spelling reform. Write to 
The Simplified Spelling Board, 18 Old Slip, New York City, for free 
literature. 

6. What are various ways of securing greater economy in learning to 
spell? 

7. What are some good plans for directing the study of spelling and of 
teaching how to study it? 



BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 
Barnes, W. English in Country Schools. (Row, Peterson & Co.) 

Bell, E. M. Orthoepy and Orthography. (Ainsworth & Co.) 
A good book treating phonics, diacritics, word study, etc. 

Charters, W. W. Teaching the Common Branches. (Houghton MiflBin 
Company.) 

Cook and O'Shea. The Child and His Spelling. (Bobbs, Merrill Company.) 



198 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Freeman, F. N. Psychology of the Common Branches. (Houghton Mifflin 
Company.) 

A good chapter on the teaching of spelling. 

Kendall and Mirick. How to teach the Fundamental Subjects. (Houghton 
Mifflin Company.) 

Sandwick and Bacon. High-School Word Book. (D. C. Heath & Co.) 

Sheppe, E. S. Word Studies. (B. F. Johnson Company.) 

For elementary grades. It includes phonics, word study, and dictionary practice in 
regular lessons. 

Suzzallo, Henry. The Teaching of Spelling. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 



CHAPTER XII 

PENMANSHIP 

We have already stressed the point that penmanship is 
a subordinate too, as speUing is, yet it needs to be given 
special lessons for its own sake. The real test of these special 
lessons will be found in the penmanship used in writing other 
lessons, hence attention must be given to the penmanship of 
all written work. The penmanship lessons are to impress 
form ideals and to build up muscular habits to enter into all 
writing activities of school and life. The practical applica- 
tion in everyday work is the real evidence of results. Thus 
penmanship is not only taught in special lessons, but in all 
the written work of the school as well. 

Qualities of good penmanship. The qualities generally 
stressed are legibility, beauty, rapidity, and ease. The first 
two are qualities of form, the second two of movement. The 
ideal forms must be presented by the teacher and properly 
visualized by the pupil. The teacher must make sure that 
the form is properly visualized. The movement calls for 
proper posture and intelligent practice until habits are fixed. 
Both form and movement call for special presentation and 
drill under the direction of a competent teacher. 

Systems of penmanship. The system known as Spen- 
cerian has had wide acceptance and long usage. Among its 
characteristics are a slant of fifty-two degrees, certain forms 
for the letters, especially for the capitals, and many shadings 
and flourishes for beauty's sake. But cases of curvature of 
the spine and impaired vision seemed to be on the increase 
among children, and some German physicians, after inves- 
tigations, charged these to unhygienic positions in school 



200 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

work, more especially the positions in writing which called 
for a twist of the spine, of the forearm, and of the neck with 
unequal focusing for the two eyes. Try the old directions for 
Spencerian writing and test the truth of these charges. 

As a result of the findings and recommendations of physi- 
cians, a system of vertical writing was inaugurated. This 
changed the slant of fifty-two degrees to vertical fines, to 
enable pupils to face the desk squarely. Writing was sim- 
plified, and bodily positions and movements made more hy- 
gienic. However, the claims for vertical writing have not 
been fully justified, though this system has been widely tried 
out in the schools. It seemed that the pendulum of reform 
went too far toward the other extreme, as it often does, and 
a reaction set in. The result does not indicate a return to the 
old system, but an adoption of an intermediate, moderate 
slant which still permits good position and movement. 

There seems to be general agreement now that this system 
of moderate slant, good position, and simple letters is better 
than either the vertical or the extreme slant. A point to be 
emphasized is that there should be a uniform slant. 

In passing, we may call attention to the confusion in the 
penmanship situation running through these years as some- 
thing scornf uUy charged to fads of the pedagogues, but there 
has been more than fads back of it. Probably the gravest 
censure should come to the pedagogues because they waited 
for the needed reform to be forced from without, and yet the 
changes have been resisted more from without, somewhat 
as in the case of reform in spelling. 

Some teaching faults. In too many schools, especially in 
rural schools, penmanship has been considered as a subject 
calling for no special preparation to teach. The prevailing 
method has been to require pupils to exercise in writing after 
copy-book models, probably with some few instructions for 
holding the pen. Sometimes, with the whole school writing. 



PENMANSHIP 201 

the teacher would pass around to notice the work of indi- 
vidual pupils, but often primary pupils must recite while 
others practiced writing, and the teacher occasionally ex- 
amined the copy-books, criticizing for blots and other signs 
of lack of neatness. It was a copy-book method, in which 
children tried to draw a model of the first copy and soon 
made their own line their copy. There has been less peda- 
gogical merit in the teaching of penmanship than in the teach- 
ing of spelling, and the results have been far short of ad- 
mirable. 

These faults point their own corrections. It is better to 
use copy-slips and writing-paper than to use the old type of 
copy-books. If the copy-book must be used, it is better to 
require the pupil to write the bottom line first, then the one 
above and so up to the copy. The teacher need not prepare 
the copy-slips, though some of the best teachers do so. Yet 
the teacher should be able to exemplify points of the copy on 
the blackboard and on paper when showing pupils where 
they are failing. The teacher must use the blackboard freely 
in teaching form. The form must be presented, analyzed, 
and thus visualized. Attention must be called to the com- 
parative height of the letters. In teaching any letter, capital 
W as an illustration, the direction of curvature of each stroke 
should be pointed out, then any failures in execution should 
be brought to attention. Uniform slant and spacing need to 
be exemplified. All this and more call for systematic prepara- 
tion on the part of the teacher for each day's lessons in pen- 
manship and for a progressive series of lessons throughout 
the year. If the teacher is not already a good penman, great 
improvement can quickly be made by a little determination 
and persistent practice, following the directions of some good 
method system. One of these which gives special atten- 
tion and valuable aid to the teacher is the Palmer Method 
(A. N. Palmer Company, New York City). Correspondence 



202 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHCK)LS ' 

courses may be had from this company, and good penman- 
ship courses are given in many state summer schools. We 
have seen elderly people make marvelous improvement in 
twenty lessons. Any teacher can learn to write well and can 
teach children to write well in one fifth of the time nearly 
wasted in penmanship in the schools. 

Points on which there is general agreement. While differ- 
ent systems for the teaching of penmanship differ on some 
points, it may be said that there is now general agreement on 
the following fundamental points, which we take from the 
excellent work by Kendall and Mirick: — 

1. In judging the penmanship of pupils the method of writing — • 
that is, penholding, movement, ease, and speed — should be 
considered, as well as legibility, and beauty of line and form. 

2. A moderate slant is better than vertical writing, or than an ex- 
treme slant. Uniformity of slant is more important than con- 
formity to any particular degree of slant. 

3. A method of writing by which the arm muscles are used for the 
fundamental movements, with the fingers acting as assistants, 
is productive of better results than a method that makes use of 
the fingers alone. 

4. Copying is not a good method of teaching penmanship. There 
should be systematic instruction in word and letter forms, in 

' penholding and movement, followed by practice. 

5. To establish desirable habits in writing, the instruction given in 
penmanship lessons must be applied not simply in those lessons 
but at all times in all written work. 

6. The forms written by young children should be large. 

7. The teacher should herself practice a correct method of writing. 
If she does not exemplify the methods she is teaching, pupils 
have little reason for adopting them. 

8. A well-graded series of copy-books or copy-slips is desirable as 
a guide for teacher and pupils. 

9. The individuality of pupils should be respected iu teaching pen- 
manship, as in teaching other subjects.^ 

1 Kendall and Mirick. How to teach the Fundamental Subjects, pp. 
145-46. 



PENMANSHIP 



203 



Some method suggestions 

Pen and pencil. There is no agreement as yet as to whether 
first-year children shall begin with pencil or pen, though the 
pencil is being used more and more generally in the first 
grade. In rural schools with several grades to the teacher, we 
prefer to have beginners use a soft pencil for desk writing. 
They can care for a pencil easier than for pen and ink, and 
the problem of distribution is simplified. The transfer to the 
pen may be made the second year. The first-year pupils 
should be given much practice in writing on the board, for 
the study of form. The 
movement should be of 
the whole-arm in black- 
board writing, never just 
the finger movement. 
But proper desk posi- 
tion, pencil holding, and 
movement must have 
some attention, though 
the writing is largely 
copying of words used in 
the reading-lessons and 
simple language lessons, 
and the emphasis is on 
form the first two years. 

Position, penholding, 
and movement. These 
call for first attention 
in regular penmanship 
lessons. 

Pupils should face the 
desk squarely, place the feet flat on the floor and slightly 
forward so as to brace the body, incline the body only very 




Fig. 13. Diagram showing Proper 
Position of Body and Paper, with 
Reference to the Desk 

(From Freeman's Psychology of the Common 
Branches.) 



204 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

slightly forward with shoulders never stooping, rest the 
forearms on the desk, and thus sit at ease. The constant 
caution to the children must be to relax, never to hold a 
tense position of body, hand, arm, or fingers, and certainly 
never grasp the tongue between the teeth. 

If the surface of the desk is not large enough to rest both 
forearms, the right side may be slightly turned to the desk, 
but never to the extent of the old position condemned, nor to 
permit the resting of the weight of the body on the right arm. 

The arm should rest on the large, fleshy muscle of the fore- 
arm, so as to admit a forward and backward motion on that 
muscle. The right hand should rest on the nails of the little 
finger and the one next to it, or of the little finger alone. 
The wrist and the side of the hand should not rest on the desk. 
This latter point is very important if the finger movement 
is ever to be prevented as the chief movement. The posi- 
tion described is for the muscular movement, supplemented 
slightly by finger movement. The left hand may rest palm 
downward where the top of the sheet of paper should be. 
Then the pupils are to practice for a minute or two the move- 
ment of the forearm on the muscle and finger nails. After this 
the paper is to be put in place so that the line of writing is at 
right angles to the forearm, and the left hand should place 
the pen in proper position in the right hand. Practice of the 
movement should follow for a minute or two without the pen 
touching the paper, and with strict attention to position and 
relaxation. Pupils are not to grasp the pen tightly. Dipping 
the pen in ink, this movement is to be continued, the pen 
making up and down lines close together, of proper slant, 
about twice as high as capital letters, and without removing 
the pen from the paper. This practice may first be to the 
count of 1-2, 1-2, etc., speeding up. Then as the pupils keep 
up the practice the teacher should inspect position, pen, and 
movement, trying if she can move her pen staff, or pencil 



PENMANSHIP 205 

freely under the WTists. This practice should be the day's 
lesson, to be renewed the next day, v.hen additional practice 
of the same kind is taken up with tlie pen going round and 
roimd an oval. Drill on the up and down lines and the oval 
lines may establish position and movement fairly well, but 
vigilant practice for days will be necessary to make them 
habitual. 

Form and movement. The pupils are then ready to study 
form and execute it with movement. The first half of a small 
n — that is, the up curve and down straight line, of large 
size — is good for the unit of practice, this unit to be repeated 
across the page several times. Pupils are to be kept strictly 
to position and movement all the while. By drawing longer 
lines through the straight, down strokes of the pupil's 
writing in this last exercise, the slant and spacing may be 
shown and criticized. The first two strokes of a small i will 
be a good unit for another practice, all the previous units 
brought in along with newer ones. The oval may be ex- 
tended into a spiral. After a few days of such practice, self- 
control may enable the practice to reduce the size of units 
to that of ordinary letters. 

By due diligence and rigid supervision on the part of the 
teacher, the proper mechanics of form and movement may 
be mastered. 

The different letters must be taken up one by one, ex- 
plained from the board, and practiced upon as units, then as 
combinations. The form must be seen, and practice must 
continue rigidly. Quite soon the teacher who goes enthus- 
iastically into this will find pupils making rapid progress. 
All details of penholding, movement exercises, etc., have not 
been attempted in this presentation. Only some essentials 
have been presented to indicate a most successful method. 
Instruction in details may be found along with the system 
adopted for use. 



206 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Other suggestions. It may be best not to begin this rigid 
practice until the third year, when the third-fourth and 
fifth-sixth grades may be organized into two classes. By the 
end of the sixth year the penmanship should be nearly per- 
fect for one half of the pupils, and quite good for all. 

Correct position and movement must be insisted upon in 
all written exercises. The special lessons should function in 
all written work. 

Practice should develop speed, ease, and good form. Speed 
and quality should progress together. After the pupil has de- 
veloped form, his writing should become automatic. Count- 
ing may regulate speed. Matter given to copy may serve as 
original tests. Twelve to fifteen lines of ordinary print on 
the regulation page of a book should be reproduced in script 
in ten minutes . Start pupils on the copy, then stop and collect 
at the end of the time. This will show what they are doing. 

Get a loose-leaf notebook, not large, or use sheets of the 
regular school paper. Have each pupil write something on a 
page sheet when the first lessons begin. At the end of each 
month distribute other pages for specimens of their writing. 
These pages put together will indicate progress and serve 
as stimuli. 

Interest and enthusiasm on the part of the teacher, free 
use of the blackboard, frequent tests for speed, form, slant, 
spacing, and an honor roll of progress will help keep up life 
in the penmanship lessons. Making booklets of specimens 
of work in nature, language, and other classes for exhibition 
will stimulate to neatness and excellence in penmanship. 

In the seventh and eighth grades, the work may center in 
social and business letters and papers, with much practice on 
unruled paper. 

Stimulus of a writing scale. Every teacher should have, 
hung up in the room, one of the standard writing scales which 
have recently been evolved. The Ayres Scale or the Thorn- 



PENMANSHIP 207 

dike Scale are the two most commonly used and the most 
desirable. These are easily obtained, and are inexpensive.^ 
The Ayres Scale reproduces samples graded from 20 to 
90, and the Thorndike Scale uses gradings from 4 to 18. 
Number 40 on the Ayres Scale and number 9 on the Thorn- 
dike Scale are practically equivalent. The Thorndike Scale 
was based on the beauty, legibility, and general merit of the 
writing, while the Ayres Scale was based on legibility alone, 
but gives samples of vertical, semi-slant, and full-slant writ- 
ing for each number on the scale. With these standard charts 
hung up in the schoolroom the pupils can compare their 
writing with the samples on the charts and determine their 
rating or proficiency. One of the best features of these scales 
is that of their uniformity. A grade of 80 per cent in writing 
means nothing to a teacher in another school; a score or 
standard of 80 on an Ayres writing scale or an equivalent 
rating on a Thorndike Scale has the same meaning all 
over the United States, and is a measure which all familiar 
with the use of these scales understand. The writing of all 
of the schools of a county may now be compared with ease. 

Standards which ought to be attained. That teachers may 
know what grades pupils in the different school grades 
should attain, and the equivalent meaning of the two scales, 
the following table is introduced to show the quality and 
speed which ought to be reached by the pupils of each school 
grade : — 

Translated, this means that an average fifth-grade pupil 
should be able to write, by the close of the year, sixty-five 
letters per minute and of a quality of fifty-five on the x\yres 
Scale or of 10.75 on the Thorndike Scale. 

1 The Thorndike Scale is for sale by the Bureau of Publications, Teach- 
ers College, Columbia University, New York City, and the price, by mail, 
is eight cents each. Ask for "Scale for Grades 5 to 8." 

The Ayres Scale is for sale by the Division of Education, Russell Sage 
Foundation, New York City, and sells for the same price. 



TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 



40 



Fig. 14. One Section from the Atkes Handwriting Scale 

(Slightly reduced in size.) This is the equivalent in ability to write to No. 9 of the 
Thorndike Scale. 



PENMANSHIP 209 

Quality ii. 

Wet W^ (3>^itt^WA/v(A^Cxib^:A0t-'d^^<t\/v^ fwAai&eJL <lLx>/tu>v 
Quality 9. 

Quality 8. 
^"^Vroua-ci- aJl«rr-\.a c)osxo>\^ "ca^-j. oJ^1a>'5UJVm . J?^ 

Fig. 15. One Section from the Thorndike Writing Scale 

(Reduced one half in size.) Quality 9 of this scale is approximately equal to quality 40 
of the Ayres Scale reproduced on the opposite page. 



210 



TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 





School Grade 




II 


/// 


IV 


V 


VI 


VII 


VIII 


Ayres Scale . . . 


44 

9.36 

36 


47 
9.75 

48 


50 

10.13 

56 


55 

10.76 

65 


59 
11.34 

72 


64 

11.89 

80 


70 


Thorndike Scale 


12.66 




90 







Some pupils will be found to write faster and some slower 
than this, and some better and some not so well. By marking 
each pupil on both speed and quality it will be easy to pick 
out the pupils who need speed practice, and those who need 
quality practice. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. In teaching penmanship, what are the different points to be taught? 
In what order should these be presented? 

2. Why should younger children at first have larger script for copy? 

3. What uses should be made of the blackboard in teaching writing? 

4. Discuss the changes in penmanship systems and the causes thereof, 
noting especially changes in position, movement, slant, form, pen- 
holding, etc. 

5. What are the drawbacks of the old copy-book method? What is better? 

6. Why are there so few good teachers of penmanship? Is it a difficult 
art? What opportunities now afforded teachers to improve in this 
subject? 

7. What is a writing scale? Use the ones discussed to diagnose your own 
handwriting. Help pupils to locate theirs in these scales, then to work 
upwards. 



BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Charters, W. W. Teaching the Common Branches. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 

Freeman, F. N. The Teaching of Handuoriting. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 

Freeman, F. N. Psychology of the Common Branches. (Houghton Mifflin 
Company.) 

Kendall and Mirick. How to teach the Fundamental Subjects. (Houghton 
Mifflin Company.) 



CHAPTER XIII 

HISTORY AND CIVICS 

In the development given to reading, language, literature, 
grammar, spelling, and penmanship, it may be seen what 
correlation means. Not one of these subjects can say to 
another, *' I have no need of thee." In the fields of literature 
and story we meet with correlated history, and geography 
is closely interwoven with history. Only as we advance in 
the grades do the subjects begin to come apart for extensive 
specialized study of each. History is most highly speciaHzed 
in college and university courses, yet it has its beginnings in 
the primary school, beginnings which may determine in the 
interests of the child what history is to mean in his later 
studies and in his life. History is story, and in the first two 
or three years of school it enters as an integral part of the 
general story program for language material and for the 
satisfaction of the instinctive interests of child nature. 

The point of view. In its broadest sense, history is the 
story of the life of mankuid. In a more special sense it is the 
story of those famous peoples whose actions have affected 
civilization. It had its beginning in the primitive, shadowy 
past, and the conclusion is not yet. It is a great continued 
story. What is the essence of this story? 

Years ago Herbert Spencer pointed out a mistaken or 
narrow point of view of history as composed of wars, 
schemes of monarchs, and the failures or successes of political 
parties. He asserted that it should be more the natural 
history of society, which would make its central theme the 
wider social aspects of the life of any people. It is thus a 
story of progress, of the inner life of the people, of the victo- 



212 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

ries of peace, which greatly surpass those of war. This modern 
viewpoint of history should change the emphasis of both 
teacher and textbook maker, and yet, though this doctrine 
has been gaining ground for years, examinations into actual 
practices disclose that political history still has a monopoly 
in the schools. The story of the progress of the American 
people is essentially one of the evolution of the social and in- 
dustrial life. The American frontier was at first colonial, 
then it crossed the Alleghenies, it shifted to the Mississippi, 
it passed into the West, and it has not yet disappeared. 
Cities have sprung up in its wake and vast industries have 
multiplied. Hills and valleys passed over by it now teem 
with happy, prosperous, enlightened people. Our frontiers- 
men were our troubadours and knights, and frontier life was 
primitive life, though somewhat advanced from the life of 
primitive cave men, the tree dwellers, and the inhabitants of 
our cliffs. The study of our shifting frontier life and the 
evolution of social and industrial America will carry with it 
the explanation of why we are naturally and inevitably a 
democratic people. With us the shifting of the emphasis 
from wars and politics to the social life of the people should 
be popular, and should gain more rapidly in our teaching of 
history. 

Fact history and human history. One other shifting point 
of view must be noted. There are two sets of facts in history, 
the one made up of dates, happenings, and passing events; 
the other of thoughts and feelings, of which the first facts 
were the mere outgrowth. Events constitute the outer form 
of history, while the thoughts and feelings which are the 
causes lying behind the events constitute the real essence or 
content. Events may begin and end, and thus become a 
matter of record, but ideas live on in results. The emphasis 
in history should not be placed upon facts, dates, or events, 
but focused upon the real essence in cause and effect. Too 



HISTORY AND CIVICS 213 

often the textbook and the lesson are but masses of detail, 
and memory-cramming prevails without vital connections 
or discriminations between the vital and the incidental. This 
kills both interest and good method. Furthermore, some 
events or series of events may profoundly influence the life 
of a people, and other events are transient in effect, influ- 
encing very shghtly the subsequent history of the country. 
Textbooks have given but little help in the selection of the 
important phases for emphasis, and this selection on the 
part of the teacher is a great factor in genuine teaching. The 
day of indiscriminate cramming of dates and facts is passing 
out as an aim in history teaching. With such an aim preva- 
lent, no wonder that history was entirely omitted in the past 
in many country schools. 

Summary as to purpose. The influential events in the 
life of the people must be selected for emphasis, and their 
influences traced to subsequent results. The real develop- 
ment of the life of the people should be given greater place 
than wars and politics. Reviews and examinations should 
center in these essential factors, and the dates, facts, inci- 
dents should be used only as needed to connect up the main 
issues and to vitalize the story. This would give continuity 
to history through causal relations between the larger issues, 
and such is rational history. Limited to dates, facts, etc., is 
factual history. History teaching should stress the rational 
and social, more than the factual and political. 

I. Primary History 

Early beginnings. History should be employed early in the 
education of children. Instinctively all children dehght in 
story. This innate tendency, like many others, may ripen 
at a certain age, and then gradually fade if not fixed through 
use. The chances are ten to one that if a boy grows up 



214 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

alone through the age of games and sports, without indulg- 
ing in marbles, ball, and the like, he will lead a selfish, se- 
cluded life. Dr. James says: "In all pedagogy the great 
thing is to strike the iron while hot, and to seize the wave 
of the pupil's interest in each successive subject before its 
ebb has come, so that a headway of interest may be secured 
on which afterward the individual may float." ^ The story 
interest, then, must be utilized in the beginning of history, 
and extended and built upon so that this interest may run 
throughout history. Story work is the necessary beginning 
of history, and should not be omitted in the lower grades. 
The practice in many rural schools of deferring history until 
the advanced grades, where a comprehensive text is used, 
has made of history for many children a dull, dry study. 
The headway of interest was not acquired in due time. His- 
tory should begin with the natural interests of the child, and 
keep pace with his development to maturity. 

Kinds of historical stories. Stories may be of persons — 
biographical, or of events — narrative. Under each of these 
types the story may be real or imaginary. Hence a story may 
be of a real or an imaginary person, or of a real or imaginary 
event. 

William Tell impersonates the spirit of liberty that dwelt 
in the hardy Swiss mountaineers. Love of freedom and dis- 
dain of tyranny are general lessons drawn from this story 
and perhaps planted in the character of the child. But the 
William Tell of this story was not a real historical person, 
only imaginary. 

The Indians fought the early white settlers, yet did not 
often do so when justly and kindly treated — the story of 
William Penn, a real historical person. 

We were at first loyal to England, but when our rights 
were invaded and taxes levied without consulting us, we re- 
1 James, William. Briefer Psychology, pA04<. 



fflSTORY AND CIVICS 215 

sisted English authority — the story of the Boston Tea- 
Par ty, a story of a real historical event. 

The yoimg are more interested in persons than in events. 
The imaginary person, especially if a boy or a girl, may be 
the center of a story nearer the child's own experience than 
any account of the full-grown man or woman of history. 
Questions may thus be brought to the child's own level. 
The logical order of introduction seems to be the imaginary, 
the real person, the real event. 

Stories of primitive life. The fable and fairy stories, the 
myths, legends, and folk-lore stories involve the beginnings 
of history. These are introductory to history. Primitive 
stories, fairy, and folk-lore stories are used in the first grade. 
The Hiawatha stories and stories of Indian life may be begun 
in this year and continued in the second, when the Hiawatha 
Primer may be used as a supplementary reader. 

Stories of primitive life fit in with the interests of second- 
and third-year children. The life of the cave men may be 
given in The Story of Ah by Waterloo, or The Early Cave 
Man by Dopp, or The Cave Twins, by Mrs. Perkins. How 
names were first given, the introduction of fire, the pit as 
the first trap, invention of bow and arrows, domestication 
of animals, first games, and early industries and art, are 
all woven into the story of Ab and his companion. Lake- 
dwellers and cliff-dwellers may be the next subjects of story. 
The cliff-dwellers bring the story to America and advance 
the development of man to the agricultural stage, for these 
cliff-dwellers were an agricultural and hunting people. 

In Jane Andrew's Ten Boys on the Road from Long Ago till 
Now, the story of Kablu, the Aryan lad, comes next in the 
order of development. We are of Aryan descent, and can 
find in this story the beginnings of many of our ideals. This 
is a story of shepherd life, of bronze metal, of letters to take 
the place of picture-writing, of advances in home life and 



216 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

moral virtues. The next of the ten boys, omitting the Greek 
and the Roman, is Wulf the Saxon, who is a step nearer 
kin to us and still farther advanced in home life, commun- 
ity life, use of clothing, travel, sports, and letters. These 
stories are all rich in opportunity for dramatization. 

Robinson Crusoe (Public School Publishing Company's 
edition) may be treated orally with second-grade children, as 
oral language work, and used as a reader in the third grade. 
This story is intermediate between the fairy story and real 
history. It is an imaginary story, yet Crusoe has to solve his 
difficulties as in ordinary Hfe, for no good fairy comes to his 
rescue. This quality makes the story fit the earlier grades 
rather than the fifth or sixth, where the full book in the orig- 
inal may be read. The possibilities and the treatment of 
this story are well presented in a teacher's edition. 

The primitive life of the Eskimo is told in Schwatka's 
Children of the Cold (Educational Publishing Company) and 
in Mrs. Perkins's The Eskimo Twins (Houghton Mifflin 
Company). Baldwin's Old Stories of the East (American 
Book Company) are superb stories of the old Bible days. 

Stories of child life in many lands may be used in the third 
year, making a beginning in geography also. Especially is it 
valuable to describe life in those parts of the world yet in 
primitive stages. 

Thus it may be seen that the field is rich in material from 
which to select. This field should be kept in mind in selecting 
books for the library. In connection with reading and litera- 
tm-e, these stories will build the foundation for history, and 
will make the boy and the girl interested readers in a charm- 
ing realm. The library is as essential here as in reading, and 
without good books in a school library the teacher of history 
is crippled and children are robbed of a most valuable birth- 
right. 

Stories from real history. In following the natural inter- 



HISTORY AND CIVICS 217 

ests of children we are led to propose the imaginary stories of 
primitive life. We know that such people as the cave men 
and the lake-dwellers lived in prehistoric times. We have 
discovered relics of them, their implements, and their art. 
The earth discloses many things about the contemporary 
animals and climate, and gives us an idea of how many thou- 
sands of years ago these primitive people lived. The stories, 
therefore, are built around well-known data, and are not 
merely imaginary guesses at the riddle of existence. 

In the third school year stories of real persons will begin 
to be in demand. Children are beginning here to be fond of 
adventure and to admire heroes. Local history should re- 
ceive early attention. Nearly every locality has its romantic 
legends and its adventurous history of pioneer or other days. 
These have peculiar charm, which will be intensified if some 
participant or old inhabitant can be brought to the school to 
tell the tales, and if any ruins or such material evidences can 
be visited. 

The old viking tales of early sea adventures, stories of the 
Phoenician sailors, and old Norse stories lead up to the story 
of Columbus. If a good globe can be had, eight or ten inches 
in diameter, the oceans may be pointed out and voyages 
traced. This is an excellent opportunity to introduce the 
children to the globe. The countries mentioned should be 
pointed out. This connects up with the stories of child life 
in other lands. The interest in the people will add interest 
to the geographical lessons incidentally brought in. Norway, 
India, Italy, Spain, Persia, Germany, and Eskimo land are 
all involved in the many stories already suggested. Japan 
and China furnish interesting stories of pecuHar and fascinat- 
ing life. 

Introducing the real historical personage. Though the real 
historical personage is now gradually introduced, imaginary 
persons and events a*re not dropped out. Swiss Family Rob- 



218 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

inson follows Robinson Crusoe as a most worthy successor in 
the interests of children. At the same time, however, stories 
to illustrate the history of the locality, the State, and the 
United States should be planned for systematic introduc- 
tion. The exact order of treatment must be modified by con- 
ditions, such as the material at the disposal of the teacher 
and the extent of alternation. It may be necessary to alter- 
nate the third and fourth grades in one group, the fifth and 
sixth in a second group, and the seventh and eighth in a 
third group. The fairy stories, legends, and tales of most 
primitive people may then be assigned to the first and second 
grades as a group, but extended and reviewed in the next 
group. The two highest grades of the elementary school 
should be given a logical organization of the history of the 
United States and civics presented through the use of text- 
books. 

Selection of stories. A few things may serve to guide in 
the selection of stories. 

1. The story should be interesting. 

2. It should deal with some important part of history. 

3. All the important periods of the history of our country 
— exploration and settlement, colonial, revolutionary, 
and national — should be represented in the total selec- 
tion. 

Subjects chosen to illustrate the spirit of adventure abroad 
in the world and the problems of the times of the discovery 
and exploration of America include Richard I, Marco Polo, 
Columbus, Magellan, Cortez, De Soto, Hudson, Drake, 
Raleigh, John Smith, La Salle, and Champlain. These lay 
the foundation claims to territory of the Spanish, English, 
Dutch, and French. 

Then comes the field of colonial and pioneer life, which is 
rich, fruitful, and inviting. How boys and girls lived in that 
far-off time, what their food, what sort of clothing for body 



HISTORY AND CIVICS 219 

and feet, the nature of the houses, windows, and furnishings, 
what plays and pleasures, what books, schools and churches, 
and how children helped to make a living. Following some- 
what the idea of Ten Boys, there is the little Virginian, the 
little Puritan, the little Quaker, the Oglethorpe Boy of 
Georgia, the French Girl of Quebec, the Creole of Old New 
Orleans, the Ramona of California, and Pioneer Children of 
Kentucky, Missouri, Colorado, and Utah. These are typi- 
cal subjects for original stories. The story of Daniel Boone 
is a typical pioneer story; so is that of George Rogers Clark. 

Value of biography. Biography should predominate 
throughout the lower grades, but history through biography 
is apt to make the great man stand out too much apart from 
ordinary men; then the rational connections may not be set 
up to hang all together. Interesting stories of leading events 
find place, such as the Pequot War, the Charter Oak, the 
Boston Tea-Party, and later the Battle of Lexington, the 
Declaration of Independence, Finding Gold in California, 
the Mormon Journey to Salt Lake, and the Expedition of 
Lewis and Clarke. 

Biographies chosen from the Revolutionary period should 
be those of Washington, Franklin, John Paul Jones, John 
Morris, Lafayette, etc. Typical Presidents may be Washing- 
ton, Jefferson, J. Q. Adams, Lincoln, Garfield, — men whose 
lives are inspiring. In the Civil War period Lee, Grant, 
Sheridan, and Jackson furnish stories of great worth. These 
can be used without any bias of the provincial partisan. 
Fulton, Whitney, and others represent industrial progress. 

Many others may be chosen to advantage. These are men- 
tioned as types to illustrate a plan of selection. At the close 
of the chapter a list of sources for such stories is given. 

A primary textbook of state history and one of United 
States history may be used as early as the fourth or fifth 
grade. Such a book should be one of excellent literary merit. 



220 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

its style adapted to these primary grades, and its stories 
well-chosen biographies with some events combined. These 
books will be of assistance where a teacher has several grades 
and the library facilities are scant. The books should be 
generously supplemented with other stories. Stories from 
Greece, Rome, and England are adaptable here. 

Even though the library facilities are scant, do not banish 
this phase of school work. Give it greater place in the pro- 
gram. Secure a small collection of source books for stories, 
and add to this collection gradually as a part of your per- 
sonal equipment. Use these to stimulate and to extend the 
story interest throughout history, and, in character, to build 
more stately mansions. 

Story treatment. The history story may be treated as sug- 
gested for other stories under language. Comments of ap- 
proval and disapproval of characters and acts should be en- 
couraged. Topical outlines may be made out for the pupils 
to copy in notebooks, to serve as guides in review and in 
reproduction. 

Stories should be told, of tener than read, to the pupils. 
Such treatment makes them more realistic, and the conver- 
sations as the stories proceed make for effectiveness and 
thoughtfulness. 

Pictures may be used to great advantage in introducing 
and in supplementing stories. Such pictures as Three Ships 
of Columbus, Pocohontas Saving the Life of Captain John 
Smith, the Boston Tea-Party, the Liberty Bell, and others 
may be collected from magazines and other sources, or may 
be purchased from the Perry Picture Company, of Maiden, 
Massachusetts, for a few pennies only. Conversations may 
start about the pictures and lead to the stories. Small pic- 
tures and drawings of the pupils' own invention may illus- 
trate the written reproduction. 



HISTORY AND CIVICS 221 



II. Advanced History 



The book phase. Textbooks in history are often not used 
until the upper two grades of the elementary school. This 
may well be the case in schools where teachers have ample 
time to give history full oral treatment in the lower grades. 
It is a mistake, though, in the rural schools to postpone all 
history to the book phase of the upper two years. These 
upper years are the ones for the use of a textbook to organize 
the field of history in the minds of the children. The texts 
for this purpose are brief, condensed, generalized, and ab- 
stract, and not such as will build real interests in history. 
As we have pointed out, these interests are first primitive 
and biographical, and they need early attention. 

To make the early history effective needs an abundance of 
graphic details to make it lifehke and full of interest. This 
cannot be accomplished in a brief text which attempts to be 
comprehensive. The story plan permits of this, and it can 
early interest children to read many books for themselves 
before they reach the upper two grades, and the headway 
of interest will prompt them to read more during these two 
years. McMurry, in his Special Method in History, insists 
that only a few subjects should be chosen for each year, and 
these developed fully. Charters, in his Teaching the Common 
Branches, has this to say: "If I were an historian and wanted 
to write a text on American history which would make the 
children love the subject, I should make it one thousand 
pages instead of three hundred. Instead of packing it with 
facts, I should select a few such movements and events, and I 
should write all the interesting stories centering about them 
I could find." I most heartily commend the wisdom of both 
these points, except that the one thousand-page book might 
be a little unwieldy. It would admirably fit the rural schools 
practicing alternation to have such a book divided into two 



222 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

books, one treating American history up to Washington's 
Administration, the second treating the period under the 
Constitution. This division is recommended for the upper 
two grades, with civics added to the constitutional period 
for some systematic summary. 

The text and its use. Since the concrete matter cannot all 
be in the textbook, the thing to do is to supplement the book 
as fully as possible. As has been previously stated, primary 
texts may be used with correlated story books to help out an 
overworked teacher in presenting stories of the State and 
the United States. These primary texts should be largely 
biographical, and centered around a few well-chosen biogra- 
phies and events. Biography should develop toward events 
which involve movements inspired and led by the principal 
figure. Such will be the stories of Miles Standish, Lewis and 
Clarke, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. 

With the advanced textbook the teacher should select the 
strategic events and movements, and cluster others around 
these. A full development of the most important phases will 
be worth far more than an attempt to make a brief mention 
of so many events and people. 

Teaching children to memorize the language of the book, 
dry dates, and a bare record of events, is the best means to 
induce weakness, to disgust pupils, and to make history un- 
pleasant. The most fruitful method is the topical, together 
with its modification, — the epoch or period method. 

Advantages of a topical method. Among the advantages 
of the use of a topical method are the following : — 

1. It enables the teacher to bring in material outside the 
book, to enlarge and vivify the instruction. It also en- 
ables the teacher to select from the text, and omit 
certain topics for a fuller treatment of leading topics. 
It will impress pupils that not all history is in the text- 
book, and even what is in there may at times be omitted. 



HISTORY AND CIVICS 223 

2. The topical method encourages pupils to study and to 
think for themselves, to trace ideas and to compare 
statements. 

3. It can be used to create enthusiasm among pupils. 

4. It lends itseK readily to reviews and examinations. 

5. It requires fuller and more careful preparation on the 
part of both pupils and teacher. 

The repeated caution is that the topics should be leading 
ones and not burdened with too many minor details. The 
details are to be supplied by the students. 

The organization of textbooks. The textbooks are organ- 
ized under eight or ten topic periods, and these are variously 
divided into topic groups. The more modern texts give a 
greater proportion of pages and topics to phases of indus- 
trial, social, educational, and religious development. The 
teacher must in the main be guided by the topical arrange- 
ment of the text ajid The State Manual, Nevertheless, the 
teacher should not be a slave to the many facts crowded into 
the text, nor feel obliged to follow blindly the order of ar- 
rangement of material therein. The texts are often on a 
chronological basis, whereas it is often best in advanced 
history to pursue some topic to its end, passing by for the 
time other topics. A topic may be pursued through the lines 
of progress common in the advancement of all people. 

Primitive beginnings are all simple, yet as the outcome of 
growth great diversity sets in, but there are common lines of 
growth which group about centers called " institutions." 
These lines are the political, the religious, the social, the edu- 
cational, and the industrial, and the corresponding institu- 
tions are government, church, family, school, and vocation. 
The student may be led to take any event or great series of 
events and trace the effects upon any one or all of these in- 
stitutions. These institutions, too, give the teacher his 
measuring-rod, that he may lay off just what should be em- 



224 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

phasized and what passed over lightly. The emphasis should 
be on the ones which have materially influenced these insti- 
tutions. Test the early colonial wars — King William's, 
Queen Anne's, King George's, and the French and Indian. 
The first three of these were simply steps leading up to the 
inevitable struggle between the French and the English for 
possession of the continent. The decisive struggle was the 
French and Indian War, which had far-reaching results as to 
what religion, what type of family, whether democratic in- 
stitutions, and what education should prevail — the English 
type rather than the French. This war deserves full treat- 
ment, with emphasis on causes and results. 

Take the case of slavery. The first load of slaves was 
brought to Virginia by a Dutch trading vessel purely as a 
matter of business, and they were purchased by the Virgini- 
ans for use in the raising of tobacco. Slavery spread to the 
North, but the climate was against it as a business invest- 
ment and it did not thrive. It spread in the South, where the 
climate favored such crops as were adapted to slave labor, 
and hence slavery fastened itself there. We thus see that in 
its origin the question of slavery was purely industrial, yet 
how it has shaken political institutions and affected social, re- 
ligious, and educational problems! It was not settled merely 
as a moral problem, nor should the political squabbles over 
slavery and the battles of the Civil War be the only phases 
treated to dispose of the question of slavery in our history. 
Its influence should be traced into all the institutions, and 
until this is done the topic has not been amply treated. 

Dates in history. Whilst warring justly against the cram- 
ming of useless dates, we must not disregard dates alto- 
gether, for a knowledge of some is absolutely essential. They 
have been styled the eyes of history. Leading dates should be 
taught with their events, then fixed by review. The following 
are suggestions for review drills : — , 



fflSTORY AND CIVICS 225 

Place a list of events on the board, and call out pupils to 
place dates for them. Have some pupil write a list of leading 
dates on the board, and call on others to write the events. 

Permit a pupil to rise, name a date or event, and call out 
another pupil to name the related event or date, the success- 
ful one giving the proper relative to name another, etc. 

Place a column of dates on the board, and call on pupils to 
connect the events as the dates are pointed out. 

Reviews. Reviews should be frequent. These may take 
different forms at times, so as to cover the same ground from 
a new point of view. Reviews may thus be: (1) Chronologi- 
cal. (2) Biographical. (3) Geographical. (4) Topical. (5) 
Games and recreations: (a) dramatizations; (6) historical 
cards; (c) character representations. In the latter a pupil 
impersonates some character, tells the story of his life, and 
other pupils are to *' guess " the name of the character. Then 
another pupil impersonates, etc. (6) Special day celebrations 
and special school programs. 

Aids. Maps and the blackboard should be freely used. 
Geography is given a new meaning when used in history, 
and all history has geographical location. Often the histori- 
cal event was influenced by the geographical features of the 
country. The geography lessons should often be used to 
teach history. Incidentally the reading lessons should so be 
used. Many of our literary classics are of a historical nature, 
and these should be read as literature and also to impress 
phases of history. 

Longfellow's Courtship of Miles Standish; Irving's Sketch 
Book; Cooper's novels; Irving's Astoria; Hough's The 
Magnificent Adventure; Jackson's Ramona; Franklin's Auto- 
biography; Kingsley's Westward Ho; many well- written biog- 
raphies, and other books should be read, some of them to be 
discussed in the history class and some in the reading class. 

Some good historical works should be in the school library. 



226 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

such as Fiske's five volumes (Houghton Mifflin Company) ; 
ElKs's History of the United States, eight volumes; Rid- 
path's History of the World. The fuller treatment in these 
permits many more graphic details. References to these, 
given to the children, will illuminate the lessons. The 
teacher should have several texts on her desk and some of 
the pupils may have others at home. In assigning a topic one 
pupil may be told to report what Eggleston says on the topic, 
another what Fiske says, still another w^hat Mace says, 
etc., yet all be held responsible for what the class text says. 
This will add breadth and interest, and will develop a method 
of study. 

Important results. (Adapted from Indiana's State Course 
of Study, 1916.) 

After the story and biography of the primary grades and the 
history texts of the upper grades, pupils should be familiar with the 
following and probably other important topics: — 

1. Columbus, Cabots, Raleigh, De Soto, Hudson, La Salle, 
Champiain. 

2. Contacts with Indians; their influence upon colonial life, later 
life, their present status. 

3. Typical colonies: Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. 

4. Causes, a few important events, and results of various wars. 

5. The attempt at Confederation and its weaknesses. 

6. The Constitution, its debate, disputed points, leading pro- 
visions, amendments, present liberal constructions. 

7. Our territorial growth. Typical pioneer settlements and life. 

8. Rise and influence of slavery. Slavery not the prime cause of 
civil war. 

9. Leading inventions and their influence. 

10. Noted pioneers, political leaders, army and navy leaders, and 
presidents.^ 

1 To number 10 should be added the noted literary men and women, 
journalists, preachers, educators, philanthropists, captains of industry. 
How many know that the first really gi-eat philanthropists were Americans, 
that one, by order of the Queen, was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a 



HISTORY AND CIVICS 227 

11. The main facts of educational and commercial growth and 
religious developments of this country. 

12. Important treaties with foreign powers. 

13. The United States as a world power, politically, commercially, 
morally; reasons therefor. 

14. Men, women, legends, pioneer stories, later development of 
the local State. Its influence in the Nation. 

15. Something of our European origins and our American neigh- 
bors. 

III. Civics 

An outgrowth from other studies. Civics begins inciden- 
tally with history, in connection with the early colonial prob- 
lems and organizations to effect government, safety, health, 
and thrift. With John Smith in Virginia the idea of commun- 
ity life with common food, etc., comes up for discussion. 

There were lazy ones who would not work. What did Smith 
decree for them? Who are the lazy in our community to-day? 
(Idle poor and idle rich.) 

How did the colonials send letters? How did they transport 
commodities? What are some of the things we can unite and do for 
all in a better way than if left to individuals? (Mail, roads, etc.) 
The marvel of a letter carried from the United States to Shanghai, 
for two cents! Contrast with cost of letters in colonial times. How 
were barns built in colonial and pioneer days? How was the corn 
husked sometimes? 

Do you know any one who holds office? What has he to do? How 
is he put into the office? How is he paid? What do taxes secure for 
us? Duty to pay taxes. Did you ever pay taxes? (Stamps.) 

Who is a good citizen? Can he spread disease? How prevent 
careless spread of disease? Can he be immoral or a disturber of 
peace? Can he be lazy? Can he make and sell whiskey? Make and 
give it away? 

What is the use of laws? How are they made? How enforced? 

tablet yet marks his grave, that he was buried with ceremonies of nobihty, 
that his remains were afterwards brought in great state to this country, 
etc.? Who was he, and has any other American been buried in Westminster? 
How has he influenced this country? 



228 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

These are questions indicating a concrete, inductive way 
of approach to the study of civics. Civics is more than civil 
government; it embraces the problems of community life, 
and should impress that " No one liveth unto himself." 

Practical civics. Modern studies in civics have, like mod- 
ern history, departed from the narrow political and con- 
stitutional, to the broader social, industrial, and even hy- 
gienic, life. Sanitation is a topic in civics. Good manners 
enter into civics. The hfe of the school should stimulate 
mutual helpfulness, inculcate the ideas of community life, 
be a miniature democracy at least in its incipiency. Care 
of public property may be improved through a public pro- 
perty committee. There may be similar committees on tidi- 
ness of rooms and grounds, on preparation of lunches so 
that all may eat together with a common pot of coffee, tea, 
etc., on invitations to special programs so as to promote a 
campaign of interest of the community in the school, on 
the care of smaller children, or on whatever in the judg- 
ment of the teacher can be so delegated. Thus orally 
and incidentally civics may be taught in all the primary 
grades. 

In the two upper grades and in connection with a study of 
the adoption and operation of the Constitution, a special 
text may be taught to organize the subject to better advan- 
tage in the minds of the students. This text should be a 
modern one, and the instruction throughout should aim to 
keep in touch with the children's interests and to direct these 
toward community cooperation for the best and highest life 
of all. Both history and civics should function in the lives of 
the children. 

Our treatment of civics is brief because of limitations 
of space, and not because of its minor importance. The art 
of living together is one of the finest of arts to be learned. 
The great war in Europe now clearly shows that the civilized 



HISTORY AND CIVICS 229 

world has not learned this art thoroughly. Have we in 
America done better than Europe? 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What changes have taken place in the point of view of history? What 
one-sided point of view dominates much of history teaching? Where 
should the emphasis be placed? 

2. Why is history as taught often a dull study? What is the way to con- 
nect it with the natural interests of the child? 

3. Find when and where your county was first settled. Collect local in- 
cidents for history stories. 

4. Discuss the different types of historical stories and their respective 
places in presenting history. 

5. What are the helps and the hindrances of the textbook in history? 
Need a textbook be followed strictly as organized? How vary it? 

6. What correlations of history and literature? 

7. Give a summary of the important things a child should become familiar 
with in the course of history in the elementary schools. 

8. What the values of dramatization in history teaching? 

9. How has the point of view changed in civics? 

10. What familiar illustrations may be drawn from the experiences of the 
children? 

11. How use the school as an object lesson in civics ? 

I. SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKS FOR PUPILS AND TEACHERS 

The following list is only a partial one. Nearly every one of the principal 
houses publishing schoolbooks has a collection of books of good history 
stories and texts, suitable for use by teachers and pupils. The teacher 
should write to these houses for descriptive price lists. Many of these are on 
exhibition for inspection at the leading summer schools for teachers, and 
an examination of them will well repay a teacher. 

Andrews, Jane. Ten Boys on the Road from Long Ago till Now. (Ginn & Co.) 

Andrews, Jane. Seven Little Sisters. (Ginn & Co.) 

Brigham, A. P. From Trail to Railway. (Ginn & Co.) 

Dopp, Katherine E. The Early Cave Men; The Later Cave Men; The LaJce 

Dwellers; Early Sea People. (Rand, McNally Company.) 
Eggleston, Edward. Stories of American Life and Adventure. (American 

Book Company.) 
Hall, John. Viking Tales. (Rand, McNally Company.) 
Hart, A. B. Colonial Children. (The Macmillan Company.) 
Judd, M. C. Wigwam Stories. (Ginn & Co.) 
Mabie^ H. Norse Stories. (Dodd, Mead & Co.) 



230 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

McMurry, Chas. A. Pioneers on Land and Sea; Pioneers of the Mississippi 
Valley; Pioneers of the Rocky Mountains and the West. (The MacmiUan 
Company.) 
Perkins, Lucy Fitch. The Cave Twins. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Pratt, M. American History Stories. (Educational Publishing Company.) 
Semple, E. C. American History and its Geographic Conditions. (Houghton 

Mifflin Company.) 
Several Authors. The Great Lake Series. Four books treating respectively 
great events around Lakes Huron, Erie, Michigan, Ontario, and the Mo- 
hawk Valley. (Ainsworth & Co.) 
Valuable. 
Waterloo, Stanley. The Story of Ah. (Doubleday, Page & Co.) 



II. BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Andrews, E. B. History of the Last Quarter of a Century. (Charles Scribner's 
Sons.) 

One of the best accounts of reconstruction days and after. 

Bourne, H. E. The Teaching of History and Civics. (Longmans, Green & 
Co.) 

Charters, W. W. Teaching the Common Branches. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 

Cheyney, E. P. European Background of American History. (Harper & 
Brothers.) 

Dunn, A. W. The Community and the Citizen. (D. C. Heath & Co.) 
A suggestive textbook of the new type of civics. Good for use as a text. 

Findley-Johnson, Harriet. The Dramatic Element in Teaching. 

Freeman, F. N. The Psychology of the Common Branches. (Houghton 

Mifflin Company.) 
A Course in History for Elementary Schools, prepared by eight members of 
the faculty of the State Normal School of Colorado. 

One of the best organizations through topical treatment, and most suggestive in 
method. 

Hill, Mabel. The Teaching of Civics. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Kendall and Mirick. How to teach the Fundamental Subjects. (Houghton 

Mifflin Company.) 
McMurry, Chas. Special Methods in History. (The MacmiUan Company.) 
The complete program of this book can best be carried out in schools fully graded, 
with a teacher in each grade. 

Sparks, E. E. Expansion of the American People. (Scott, Foresman Com- 
pany.) 



CHAPTER XIV 

GEOGRAPHY 

Old and new types. Geography in the ancient world and 
in the Middle Ages was only slightly developed and not really 
separated from other sciences, such as astronomy and geome- 
try. The discovery of America greatly stimulated an age of 
travel, discovery, and exploration. All sciences came to a 
new birth, and especially was there more need for geography 
of the real world. In the nineteenth century geography 
soon became a separate branch for study in the elementary 
schools. With the bookish tendency of all school studies, 
geography became largely a study of maps, with stress on 
the boundaries of countries, locations of rivers, cities, moun- 
tains, and capes, with some little descriptive matter about 
the countries. This latter became so matter-of-fact and so 
dry that many rural schools omitted it, thus limiting geog- 
raphy to map study. Very minute places were asked about 
in map questions, and what little interest there was on the 
part of the children was due to the similarity between find- 
ing these places and working out a puzzle. In many rural 
schools the most uninteresting recitations are in geography 
— yet of the old type — and such geography is valueless. 

About the middle of the nineteenth century geography 
began its development as a natural science. The approach 
to it as a science came in two directions. Ritter, a German 
historian and a teacher, was probably the founder of modern 
geography. He was interested as a historian in the relations 
between man and his geographic surroundings. He would 
have the study begin with the natural environment of the 
student, and that is the method of what we call "home 



232 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

geography." He instituted map-drawing and comparisons of 
comitries to bring out principles. The other approach was 
estabhshed by Humboldt, a German explorer, who stressed 
the physical features, the altitudes and the plains, the lines 
of common temperature, and other facts of the surface of 
the earth itself. 

A study of the earth as the home of man. Geography 
has since developed into a science with so large a field that 
it is now subdivided into mathematical geography, physical 
geography, commercial geography, industrial geography, 
political geography, and about the latest is anthropo- 
geography. These special fields receive full treatment in 
separate books, and the whole field rises to the dignity of a 
department in some of our greatest colleges and universities. 
The two approaches set up two points of view, the human 
and the physical, and these have had turns in ascendancy. 
The first great modern geographies for our public schools 
were built upon the physical emphasis. They would have in 
home geography the study of slopes, soils, climate, weather, 
and other natural objects and phenomena. The later ten- 
dency is to place greater emphasis on the human factors. 
One of the most frequently quoted definitions is that given 
by Guyot, a disciple of Ritter, which is " Geography is the 
study of the earth as the home of man." The first emphasis 
was on the study of the earth; the second is on as the home of 
man. We want to know how man makes his home on the 
earth, and what the factors are that affect his life. We need 
to note how man, the earth, and life on the earth, have in- 
fluenced one another. This is the essence of the *'new 
geography." 

Geography is connected up with the study of nature, 
which first sends the child out to find things for himself 
independently of books. The children's interest in people 
give an approach through the stories of children of many 



GEOGRAPHY 233 

lands, which in turn lead to the knowledge of the globe and 
of various countries. We may call these two approaches: — 

(1) The Nature-Study Approach. 

(2) The History-Story Approach. 

Geography must be related closely to the life of the child, 
and there again the rural school has in many respects a 
great advantage. Geography is capable of being made of 
much greater interest to the rural child than it can be made 
to the city child. The earth and its fullness is around the 
schoolhouses and the homes, and the geographic processes 
and forces are directly in evidence; whereas in the city these 
are made artificially obscure. The town and city children 
have more direct touch with commerce, yet the rural children 
do not lack this touch. 

Some values. The " new geography " is a school subject 
of great value. It has its practical utihty in knowledge of 
Ihe sources of raw materials, such as corn, cotton, wheat, 
grapes, tea, coffee, sugar, coal, iron, and all useful commodi- 
ties; in knowledge of markets, trade centers, best routes of 
shipment and travel; in knowledge of the places and facilities 
of manufacture and the possibilities of the home regions un- 
developed. The farmer can use to his advantage all of this. 
Geography has other values in information about our otvti 
country and people, our relations to the other peoples of the 
world, our mutual interdependence, the meaning of current 
events and geographical allusions of newspapers and litera- 
ture, places worth while to visit, and in many ways it con- 
tributes to enjoyment of leisure and life. 

Rural people are sometimes accused of being provincial 
and narrow; geography and history are the subjects which 
broaden their horizons and their sympathies, and make them 
citizens of the world. This tends to make them more pa- 
triotic, and certainly more valuable locally as citizens in 
their own communities. People of some section? of the 



234 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

United States are not well acquainted with the traits and 
accomplishments and hopes and visions of people in other 
sections. This makes them unsympathetic and engenders 
harmful jealousies. A crime may be committed in one State, 
and the people of another State are bitter in their denuncia- 
tions of the heathenism which permits the crime, when in 
that other State crimes just as heathenish may have been 
frequent and the totality of crimes much greater. It is the 
old story of the mote and the beam, and probably geography 
can contribute something to that charity which is the great- 
est thing in religion. 

We are not only out of touch with our own sections, but 
we are woefully ignorant of our Latin-American neighbors. 
Both the practical and the cultural possibilities of geography 
have been little realized. 



I. Primary Geography 

The story approach. In the story lessons presenting chil- 
dren of many lands, Schwatka's Children of the Cold; Jane 
Andrews's The Ten Boys and The Seven Little Sisters; The 
Norse Stories; The Vikings ^ and all the early historical per- 
sons, the globe or a large map of the world should be used 
to locate the country of each story. It is best to use the 
globe first; then the map and the globe together. A talk with 
the children about the globe and the big round earth will pave 
the way for use of the globe in the third grade. The location 
of home may first be learned; then other places located and 
journeys thereto traced out. Something of each country's 
features, climate, people, occupations, games, and sports, 
will make the story more graphic. Our common articles of 
food and clothing will furnish topics for discussion, connect- 
ing us with various countries, — coffee with Brazil, tea with 
China, sugar with Louisiana, Cuba and Hawaii, cotton with 



GEOGRAPHY 235 

the South, etc. This correlation with stories — making the 
child's home the center and relating other places to it in some 
way — will give the child a good fomidation set of ideas 
about the world as a whole, its bodies of land and water, and 
its people. Pictures should be freely used with these lessons. 
Fortunate is the school with a lantern to reflect pictures. A 
stereoscope also is excellent. 

REFERENCES 

Andrews, Seven Little Sisters of the Big Round World. 

Carroll, Around the World Series. 

Perkins, The Twin Series. (Houghton Mifflin Co.) 

Shaw, Big People and Little People of Other Lands. 

The Youth's Companion Series. 

Toward the Rising Sun (Japan, China). (Ginn & Co.) 

The nature-study approach. Natiu-e study offers a way 
into scientific geography, and both nature study and geog- 
raphy furnish the necessary foxmdation for agriculture. The 
physiographic features, the forces and agents at work on the 
earth's surface, the making of valleys and soils, and the life 
of the environment are all topics for first-hand study in the 
surroundings of the rural school. This means nearby field 
lessons with the teacher at times, and at other times the 
sending out of children with problems or questions to find 
the answers in the fields, woods, streams, air, and sky. These 
are genuine nature-study lessons, which connect up with 
the occupations of man. 

Suggestive topics. The following are given merely as 
illustrative of the possible topics and method : — 

1. The three parts of the earth, land, water, air. 

a. Land, a solid. Walk on what to school? House rests on 
what? Compare with water; with air. It is a solid. Give 
ideas of its surface limitations in all directions. 

h. Water, a liquid. Do what with water we cannot do with 
land? (Pour, drink, wade in, etc.) Moves freely; flows 



56 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

down slopes; collects in low places; takes shape of vessel 
containing. What kind of land will behave most like 
water? (Sand.) 
c. Air, a gas. What is air? Can you feel it? See it? How 
high? (Tree-tops, birds, clouds.) Does air keep still 
ever? What do we call air in motion? What has been 
done by air in motion? Color of distant objects, hills, 
sky? Why blue? 
Is it warmer at noon or in morning? Day or night? On 
which side of the house is it coolest, and why? Why cooler at 
night? What heats the air? How does air protect us from 
cold? How many uses of air can you name? TeU all you have 
found out about air. 
2. Directions and weather. Have some boys plant a tall pole in a 
level place where it will be convenient to observe its shadow. 
If possible have them place on it or on the house a weather 
vane of any kind which will indicate the direction of the wind. 
Get from the United States Weather Bureau directions for 
voluntary observers; also pictures of typical clouds. 

Have children observe direction and length of the shadow 
from same point a few times morning, noon, afternoon. 
Changes why? Shortest when? Shape of sun*s path across the 
sky? 

Shadow midday points north, and the sun is in the south. 
Face north and the right hand will point E., left W. Direc- 
tions of corners of yard from front gate? How does the school- 
house face? How respective homes? 

Have shadows observed a few times in fall, winter, and 
spring. Observe sun's path fall, winter, spring. Compare. 
Sun rises where? Sets where? Changes in these? In how 
many ways can we find the north and south line? Find north 
star, big dipper, and observe motion of stars. A compass here 
will prove of great interest, also a magnetized needle on a cup 
of water. Establish a noon mark. 

Note rains and the prevailing winds before and after rains 
and in long dry seasons. Have some pupils keep a weather 
chart one month, some another so as not to get monotonous, 
yet to get a chart for every month of school. Have home ob- 
servations for early and late in the day, and in early night. 
What are the many services of the sun? How did the 
Indians and pioneers locate the north when in forests? 



GEOGRAPHY 237 

3. Water. 

a. In the air. Place a pan of water where it will evaporate. 
Ask what has become of it. Boil water and note its dis- 
appearance. Teach vapor, steam, clouds. Is all the air's 
moisture in clouds? (Ice pitcher experiment.) How does 
the air get its moisture? On what kind of nights does 
dew collect? It comes from where, and how? 

Why collect on plants and flowers? What becomes of the 
drops of dew? What has been called '* cloud dust"? What 
does the air do with its moisture? Uses of water in the air. 
Teach rain, mist, fog, hail, snow, frost. 

b. On the Land. Bring out the idea of slopes and their uni- 
versality. Is any place on the earth naturally level? 
Kinds of slopes: gradual, steep, long, short, rough, 
grassy, etc. Observe slopes about the school. Note 
where two slopes meet at bottom, at top. Teach water- 
meeting, water-parting, divides, creek beds, rills, branch- 
es, creeks, creek systems (where several run together), 
rivers, river systems, banks, basins, pools, ponds, lakes, 
oceans. 

Bring out the many uses of slopes by having thoughtful 
consideration of the questions : What if there were no slopes? 
What if all were steep? 

Uses: 1. Produce springs, streams, oceans, etc. 2. Distribute 
soil. 3. Make variety of climate, plants, and animals. 

c. Water in the earth. What becomes of the water that 
falls as rain? Does it all run into creeks? Go back to 
clouds? What becomes of that which soaks in the 
ground? Through what kind of soil will it sink deepest? 
What will stop its course? Change its course? Does any 
of it ever come out again? All of it? Springs, wells, 
caverns, streams, mineral springs, etc. Uses of under- 
ground water. Plants and water. 

4. Land forms. In connection with the study of slopes the 
land forms, hills, mountains, valleys, plateaus, deserts, and 
swamps may be taught. 

5. Soil-making. Examine some sand to see what it is made of. 
Examine clay for rock particles. Show samples of rock, mica, 
quartz, feldspar, marble, granite, slate, soapstone. Which is 
made out of harder rock, sand, or clay? Why do you think so? 
Tell pupils that sand is mostly quartz, clay mostly feldspar. 



238 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Bring in some black soil from the woods or woodyard. Ex- 
amine its contents, and teach loamy soil. Bring out the work 
of weathering, of streams, of plants, and animals in the mak- 
ing of soil. Uses of soil. 

What makes soil fertile? How does nature regulate fertility? 
(Returns crop to soil). How does man mterfere? 

6. Our needs. (1) Food. Make a catalogue of vegetables raised 
within one mile of the schoolhouse. Do the same for fruits, 
for grains. What the chief product of the home county? 
What foods in use not raised in the county? Sources of these? 
Is the county as thrifty as it should be in raising necessities? 

In some similar way study clothing materials, sources, re- 
lated trades. Also study shelter and ideal homes. 

7. Occupations. (1) Farming. (2) Stock-raising. (3) Lumbering. 
(4) Mining. (5) Fishing. (6) Manufacturing — flour, cloth, 
iron, steel, wood, etc. (7) Trade, transportation, commerce. 

All this should be treated orally and first with observa- 
tion of outdoor surroundings. Then some stories of travel, 
of industry, and of parts of the earth may be read. In con- 
nection with this concrete study of home surroundings, the 
lessons described under Civics come in as an integral part. 
In taking the children out for observation, or in sending them 
out, the teacher should have in mind some definite things to 
be seen, and the discussion should focus on these; other 
things passed briefly. 

This oral work is as necessary to give vitality to geography 
and agriculture as the story work is to build interests in 
history. It is the kind of geography that the child at that 
age is prepared to comprehend, and it gives him notions to 
be used in the apperception of later geographical ideas. 

Primary globe lessons. Some clear notions of the world 
as a sphere and the relations between its parts should be 
learned from the globe before proceeding with flat maps. The 
first globe lessons may be as indicated along with stories of 
people. Thus the pupil may come to know something of the 
shape, largeness, and principal land and water divisions of 



GEOGRAPHY 239 

the earth. If this has not been so done, the globe lessons 
must begin with first concepts of these things, and this may 
be done in the third grade. It is true that the movement 
seems to be from the child's home gradually outward, from 
the known to the unknown, yet it is quite valuable to have 
a view of the earth as a whole so that the movement outward 
will be an analysis of the whole, and that places may be seen 
in their relations to the whole. A few lively globe lessons will 
do this as no book study by the children alone can ever do. 

Some of the things to be taught are the following: Shape; 
land and water surface; motion; axis; poles; equator; hemi- 
spheres; the elevations and great slopes; the continents and 
oceans; and something of the earth as a heavenly body. 

An eight-inch globe is a good combination size to get 
clearness and yet not be too clumsy to handle. The ideal 
equipment would include also a larger globe, individual 
three-inch desk globes, and a slated globe for drawing the 
outlines of surface features. If nothing better can be had, 
the teacher can get a six-inch globe mounted on wire for 
from twenty-five to forty cents, and this can be used to 
great advantage, if the class is not too large. Lessons may 
begin and proceed somewhat as follows : — 

What is the shape of the school globe? 

Point out with the finger the parts that represent land. The 
water parts. Which is greater, the land surface or the water? 

Turn the globe around once. On what does it turn? (Axis.) 

Where is the least motion when it turns? (Ends of axis.) 

Where is the fastest motion when it turns? Place a piece of 
chalk at a point just as far from one end of the axis as from 
the other. Some other such point. Still another. How many 
such points? Teach North Pole, South Pole, and Equator. 

Does the real earth turn? What is its axis? Where is the North 
Pole? The South Pole? The Equator? Tell something about 
these. Teach revolution and effects of the earth's motions. 
Tell something of other heavenly bodies. 

Show the class the Eastern Hemisphere, naming it; and the 



240 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Western Hemisphere, naming it. Ask a pupil to turn the globe 
so that the Eastern Hemisphere is toward the class. Call 
another to show the Western. In which is there more water 
than land? Find where the water nearly cuts the land of the 
Western Hemisphere in two. The two parts are continents, 
North America and South America. Which should be North 
America? Which South America? Teach Isthmus of Panama. 

Find where the water nearly meets across the Eastern Hemi- 
sphere. Teach the African Continent, the Eurasian Continent, 
and the Isthmus of Suez. Tell of the canals, Panama and 
Suez. 

Show Australia. Show and name the oceans, the Mediterranean, 
the Red, and the Caribbean Seas, the Gulf of Mexico, and 
Bering's Strait. Drill on these land and water bodies, calling 
pupils to point them out. 

Why is the land surface where it is? The water where it is? 
Trace the world ridge northward through South America and 
North America, then across Asia and Europe and southward 
through Africa. Trace the great slopes and the shorter slopes 
of each continent; the great stream systems of each slope; the 
ragged coast lines with the inlets of water and jutting out of 
land. 

These are miscellaneous suggestions for inductive globe 
lessons. Having learned the elementary facts, the lessons 
may proceed with life on the earth, the people and products, 
the animals and plants, the climate, etc., of the main regions. 
Then the lessons should center around home, our neighbors 
in the States, and in Canada and Mexico. No technical 
mathematical geography should be introduced in the pri- 
mary lessons; even latitude and longitude, zones, proofs of 
the earth's rotundity, and reasons for the changes in seasons 
should be postponed to advanced geography. A primary 
text may be used in which the treatment may be along 
the lines suggested, making the central study one of people, 
occupations, and the relations of these to the features and 
climate of their respective countries. The oral lessons in 
home geography are generally assigned to the third grade, a 



GEOGRAPHY 241 

primary text to the fourth and fifth grades, and an ad- 
vanced text to the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. With 
alternation in rural schools, it will be a good plan to ar- 
range the topics for home geography and the lessons in a 
primary text so as to divide these between the third and 
the fourth grades, and use a second book in geography 
with the fifth and sixth grades, alternating. In the sev- 
enth and eighth grades, the geography should treat more 
fully the industrial and commercial world, relating it to 
the agriculture of these grades and the needs of rural life. 

REFERENCES 

Carpenter, F. Stories of Industry. (Charles Seribner's Sons.) 

Frye, Alex. Child and Nature. (Ginn & Co.) 

Frye, Alex. Brooks and Brook Basins. (Ginn & Co.) 

Merrill, F. H. Geographical Readers. (Webb Publishing Company.) 

Payne, S. O. Geographical Nature Study. (American Book Company.) 

II. Advanced Geography 

Need for tjrpe studies. Geography is like history in that 
its facts are so numerous and of such varying degrees of im- 
portance that organization becomes difficult. There has 
been too much cramming of many facts, thus destroying the 
scientific nature of geography. We need unifying principles. 
Two methods of procedure will aid greatly in organizing the 
lessons taught. The method of causal relations is the chief 
one to unify geography in a scientific w^ay, and a study by 
means of types groups things into larger wholes, while com- 
parison of types results in setting up rational relationships. 
The study of types offers excellent opportunities for seeking 
causal relations, and tracing such relations through similar 
types. McMurry, in his several books on the teaching of 
geography, has been our greatest exponent of the type-study 
method, and through the development of this method he has 



M2 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

contributed more to advance the teaching of geography than 
can be attributed to the influence of any other reform. 

What a type study is. A type is a central topic to be elab- 
orately treated by bringing much to supplement what may 
be in the text, to enliven and vivify, and to give a unit of 
comparison. A city may be taken as a type. It should be 
studied so as to bring out full knowledge of the trade activ- 
ities making the city. A city is a trade center. McMurry 
thinks that Minneapolis-St. Paul is an excellent type to 
trace development from simple beginnings to a great lumber 
and flour center. The location at the falls and the nature of 
the surrounding country are seen in causal relation in the 
building of these great twin cities, now growing together. 
A full description of the river there, the timber above, the 
nature of the soil adapting it to wheat, the beginning of saw- 
mills to convert logs into lumber, the reaction of this on the 
building of houses and the bringing of settlers to grow the 
wheat, the beginning of mills to convert the wheat into 
flour, the growth of these into great industries, — all these 
will enter into a graphic presentation of these two cities as 
trade centers. 

Pittsburgh, at the head of navigation for large boats on 
the Ohio River, and a center of coal and iron industries, is 
a good type to study and to compare with Minneapolis-St. 
Paul. Niagara Falls, the building of Buffalo, and the growth 
of New York City as the most available point of outlet for 
the commerce of the Great Lakes and a vast area of the 
United States, all tie up in a large type study of greatest im- 
portance. The type study gives opportunity for the employ- 
ment of the topical method in teaching, and all that was 
said in favor of the topical method in history is applicable 
here. 

Type cities. A large topic may be, " The Cities of the 
United States." Not all can be studied, and it is desirable 



GEOGRAPHY 243 

to work up fully only a few as types. Other port cities may 
be Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Savannah, New Orleans, 
San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles. On inland water- 
courses, somewhat like Pittsburgh and Buffalo, are Cincin- 
nati and St. Louis. Inland and not on navigable water are 
Indianapolis, Kansas City, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, and 
Salt Lake City. The list should, of course, include the city 
and towns nearest the school. All of these will be found to 
have some points in common, each being a trade center, and, 
sooner or later, every city becomes a manufacturing center 
for an increasing number of trade articles. Yet no two cities 
are alike, each having individuality. There are reasons to be 
sought why a city was built just where it is. These may 
nearly always be found in physical advantages, yet a few 
have been located historically, like New Orleans and Petro- 
grad, where there are many disadvantages. The causes back 
of the making of these cities will explain the individuality of 
each, and bring out the influence of the environment in shap- 
ing the destinies of people as well as the use man makes of 
his environment. 

North America a t3rpe continent. This will naturally be 
one of the first for study. That portion of the world ridge 
which runs through the continent is its backbone. There is 
a long slope running toward the Atlantic, and a shorter slope 
toward the Pacific. Each slope is broken in places by lower 
ranges of mountains, making counter slopes. There are high 
plateaus, there are river systems of each slope and counter- 
slope making valleys and lowlands, and there are inland 
water basins. There are regions inclined to be desert and 
barren, with natural causes to explain their existence. The 
general shape of the continent is triangular, with charac- 
teristic features of each shore. After many oral lessons 
with the class, developing this type, general comparisons 
should be set up with the other continents — South Amer- 



244 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

ica, Africa, and Eurasia. These quick general comparisons 
will be very illuminating and valuable. 

A river system is another type. A few representative kinds 
should be selected for study, as with cities, and the others 
studied by contrast. 

McMurry has prepared full type studies for the United 
States and North America. His books will help any teacher 
well along the highroad of type study, and the remainder of 
the journey will be one of joyful discovery. 

Man's contact with nature the center of geography. 
McMurry says that the outcome of man's contact with 
nature is the center of every strictly geographic fact. This 
is true, and the mere learning of the locations of far-away 
capes, inlets, towns, etc., without connecting these in some 
way with human life and progress, is a wasteful, valueless 
study. But we must not lose sight of the geographic in- 
fluences on man. All of these should be studied as such, chief 
among which are climate, rivers, oceans, and mountains. 
Causal relations should always be kept in mind. Emphasis 
upon causal relations as affecting the life of man may be 
said to be the characteristic of the *' new geography." 

Map-making' The making of maps has long been con- 
sidered an essential in the teaching of geography. Maps 
made by the pupils do aid in fixing and in making definite 
many details. These make observation more accurate, and 
the making develops the power of interpreting. Young 
pupils, when first coming to the study of geography, need to 
be educated to interpret a flat map. A globe divided into 
hemispheres, but with these hinged together so that when 
open the hemispheres on the globe are seen in imitation on 
the flat surfaces, will aid the mind in passing to a concept of 
flat maps. 

Too much stress has at times been placed on map-drawing. 
The pupils should learn to sketch rapidly a fairly good out- 



GEOGRAPHY 245 

line. This is better practice than that of giving much time 
and patience to drawing to an exact scale. This exact work 
comes later, and the teacher who will often sketch on the 
board will get better results. 

Drawing the schoolroom and the locality. Mapping the 
schoolroom will serve as a convenient beginning. The gen- 
eral shape of the room should be observed; then the teacher 
shotild draw the floor outline on the blackboard. The pupils 
then try to locate the teacher's desk in the map, and, when 
this is placed, they locate the stove and other general 
objects. The teacher may draw small squares to repre- 
sent the pupils' desks, and the pupils are to detect their 
own locations. Call first some pupil whose desk is in one 
corner, or otherwise easy to locate, then ones for other 
corners, then then' neighbors, and thus until the map is 
complete. It will be a help if the teacher purposely draws 
the floor outline with the northern side at the top. Pupils 
should determine the directions, pointing out the east side, 
the west, the north, and the south, and naming the directions 
of the corners. The pupils should be requested next day to 
draw a map of the room, then of one or more of the walls. 

Soon a trip should be made to a small field near by, its 
outline noted, and its surface features located accordingly, 
beginning with the northern side probably. Returning to the 
schoolroom the teacher and pupils, working together, draw 
a map of the field. This exercise may be extended at will, but 
soon the sand box should be introduced, and the first of these 
maps traced in the sand. The school floor is level, but the 
field is not, and the field map introduces elevations and 
slopes. After a few such lessons, sand maps of a continent 
may be undertaken, then outline maps of the continent 
sketched on paper. 

Filling in outline maps. Bare outlines of a continent or 
State are useful to give the pupils to fill in. The filling-in 



246 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

may be done progressively as the lessons develop. Separate 
sheets may be used for different pm-poses. The first may 
locate the general surface features and the cities and towns. 
Others may be a products map, a political map, an industry 
map, or any specialized exhibit map. If the pupils cannot be 
required to purchase these outUne maps, the teacher may 
make some with the mimeograph. These often will save 
time, for the pupils might take the whole period getting the 
outline ready, when the lesson is to locate towns and cities. 
However, sometimes the outlines should be sketched from 
memory, and other details filled in from memory, for this 
gives excellent drill and review. 

Imaginary journeys. In imaginary journeys a pupil is 
called upon to take a voyage from New York City to 
Buenos Aires, — or any such voyage, — the vessel to be de- 
scribed, the lading, stops and scenes en route, transactions 
and lading at Buenos Aires, and the return. Inland journeys 
may be called for — pleasure journeys to the Grand Canyon 
or elsewhere, and trade journeys in like manner. These add 
zest to the lessons, serve as reviews, and enable the pupils to 
bring in lively details. Days may be assigned for pupils to 
describe journeys, each selecting his own trip and preparing 
his story. Other pupils should ask questions to learn things 
from the travelers. 

Use of pictures. The texts now have many illustrations. 
These should be discussed with the class. Others should be 
obtained from raihoad literature, tourist agencies, guide- 
books, and other sources. Every one of the great railways 
has for free distribution, from year to year, some excellent 
pictures and well-written literature. Collections of these 
should be made, and the pupils taken on trips over each 
road. The old geographies studied river routes fully, but 
the geography of to-day must stress rail routes. A study 
of the Santa Fe, the Canadian Pacific, the Pennsylvania, or 



GEOGRAPHY 247 

the Southern Raihoad, with illustrations en route, will be a 
graphic type study of great value. The imaginary journey 
may traverse some great rail system or river. 

If a lantern can be had, some of the best pupils may do 
the talking at a night program for the community, taking 
the listeners on tours of the world. The National Geographic 
Magazine brings out many marvelous pictures in colors, and 
these can be projected by a simple lantern so as to magnify 
and give the color effects. Many beautiful picture postcards 
are now issued and are very useful for geography work. One 
of the school programs may charge a fee to pay for such a 
lantern. The stereoscope is an inexpensive instrument, and 
stereoscopic pictures of people, places, industries, etc., of 
many lands may be had from pubhshing houses. All such 
material helps to make geography teaching more vivid and 
more vital. 

Other helps. Every schoolroom should be equipped with 
a full set of roller maps, a large globe and a small one, a col- 
lection of geographical books in the library, and, if possible, 
with a projection lantern. To use the lantern in the day, 
shades must be fixed so as to darken the windows. But the 
boys and girls may construct these if they cannot be pur- 
chased. The isolation of rural life and the rural school calls 
for better equipment of school plants, and through geog- 
raphy, history, and hterature rural children may become 
citizens of the world, with cosmopolitan vision. Financial 
generosity should be at its best when it comes to the welfare 
of children. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Outline the evolution of geography as a science, giving the essence of 
the "new geography," its change in point of view and methods. 

2. Would it broaden the notion of geography to consider it a study of the 
earth and life thereon in their relations to man rather than a study of 
the earth as the home of man? 



248 TEACHING JN RURAL SCHOOLS 

3. Wherein is a need of a better study of the geography of our American 
neighbors? 

4. Why the need of the two approaches given for beginning geography? 
When may these begin? When may a textbook be used? 

5. What is a type? What the values in a use of types in geography? 

6. Take your nearest river and the metropolis of your State and develop 
each as a type. Collect all the facts and materials you can to vitalize 
these types. Treat likewise your nearest large railroad. What are its 
relations to everyday living in the community of your school? 

7. Take climate as a topic and develop a lesson outline to show its many 
causal relations. What are the relations between the type system and 
the topical method in treating geography? 

8. Show the values of geography in correlation with other subjects. 

I. SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKS FOR TEACHERS AND PUPILS 

Carpenter, Frank. Geographical Readers for North America, South Americay 
and Asia. (American Book Company.) 

Carpenter, Frank. Geographical Readers; Industries. (American Book 
Company.) 

DuChaillu, Paul. Wild Life under the Equator. (Harper & Brothers.) 

Irving, Washington. Astoria. 

Merrill, F. A. Our Country. (Webb Publishing Company.) 

Perkins, Lucy Fitch. The Twins Series of Geographical Readers. The Es- 
kimo Twins, Grade II; The Dutch Twins, Grade HI; The Japanese 
Tvnns, Grade IV; The Irish Twins, Grade V; The Mexican Tunns, 
Grade VI; The Dutch Tunns Primer, Grades I-III. 

Stanley, Henry. In Darkest Africa. (Charles Scribner's Sons.) Two vol- 
umes for library. 

Stoddard; Lectures. (Balch Bros. Company.) 

Well-written and illustrated volumes for the library. 

Greater America. (Youth's Companion.) 

Our recent possessions. 

Van Bergen. Story of China and Story of Japan. (American Book Com- 
pany.) 

There are hundreds of other good books to be foimd listed in the catalogues of publish- 
ing houses. 

LANTERNS, PICTURES, AND MAPS 

For projection lanterns and balopticans, Bausch and Lomb, Rochester, 

New York. 
For stereoscopes and pictures. Underwood & Underwood, New York City. 
For railroad literature, passenger agents of many railroads. 
For a large map of the United States free, Department of the Interior, 

Washington, D.C. 



GEOGRAPHY 249 



II. BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Brigham, A. P. Geographical Influence in American History. (Ginn & Co.) 
Holtz, F, S. Principles and Methods of the Teaching of Geography. (The 
Macmillan Company.) 

This is an excellent modern book for teachers. 

McCormick, H. Methods in Geography. (Public School Publishing Com- 
pany.) 

Good, especially for treatment with illustrations of imaginary journeys. 

McMurry, Charles. Type Studies in the United States and North America. 

(The Macmillan Company.) 
McMurry, Charles. Larger Type Studies in the United States. (The 

Macmillan Company.) 
Sutherland, W. J. The Teaching of Geography. (Scott, Foresman & Co.) 
Excellent. Treats scope, methods, and practical suggestions. 



CHAPTEH XV 

ARITHMETIC 

Another necessary tool subject. Arithmetic is a tool sub- 
ject which might have been treated earlier along with read- 
ing, spelling, and writing, but a chain of correlations brought 
in other subjects. Arithmetic has its correlations which 
might have been used to treat it incidentally along with other 
subjects, and some theorists are advocates of such treat- 
ment as the only teaching of arithmetic necessary. The 
primary-school activities call for counting, measuring, and 
parceling. Dates in history, distances and latitudes in geog- 
raphy, measurements in handicrafts, problems arising in 
agriculture and home economics, all open opportunities for 
coupling arithmetic with children's interests and the other 
work of the school. Nevertheless, there is a formal side to 
arithmetical teaching which calls for drills to secure accu- 
racy, speed, and skill. The necessary extent of this drill is 
shortened and its terrors mitigated by the practical corre- 
lations. The teacher who expects through interest to escape 
drill will likely come to grief in final tests. However, the 
other extreme of using arithmetic for disciplining the mind 
in long drills and abstract-number gymnastics, to the neglect 
of the real life applications, is the worse. The setting of 
arithmetical problems in their connection with other school 
subjects has vitalized modern methods in arithmetic, but we 
still need a special time in our school schedule and a separate 
text for arithmetic. 

Some reform tendencies. There has been for a quarter of 
a centiny a growing tendency to eliminate many topics in 
arithmetic teaching and to abbreviate others, and this has 



ARITHMETIC 251 

led to the rewriting of textbooks, as well as to a choice of 
topics from those treated in the book. Rural schools have 
given an undue proportion of time to arithmetic, and the 
good results have not been apparent. This weeding-out of 
waste materials should find readier acceptance in these 
schools than has so far been the case. 

How little arithmetic we need. The great demand for 
arithmetical knowledge, in everyday life, is for accuracy in 
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and simple 
and decimal fractions, with a very elementary knowledge of 
interest and percentage. We really need but little more. The 
following indicates the chief eliminations which should be 
made : — 

1. In everyday life it is very rare that any but the simplest 
fractions — halves, thirds, fifths, sixths, eighths, tenths, 
twelfths, and hundredths — are used. Fractions with 
large denominators, complex fractions, and fractions of 
an unpractical nature should be eliminated. 

2. Using only simple fractions, no long methods for 
G.C.D. and L.C.M. axe needed. Inspection and factor- 
ing will enable one to deal with the needed operations 
as needed. 

3. In all ordinary calculations decimals are carried to 
three places only. There should be no great waste of 
time drilling beyond this. 

4. Improbable examples, such as many of those given in 
the multiplication or division of denominate numbers; 
unused measures; problems in interest involving finding 
the time, the principal, or the rate; true discount; annual 
interest; cube root; compound proportion; commercial 
exchange, and stocks and bonds; — these may all be 
omitted with advantage not only to the work in arith- 
metic, but to the advantage of the other work of the 
school as well. In the elementary school, square root 



252 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

should be handled by learning the squares of the few 
simple numbers likely to appear, and the square root 
may then be named at sight. However, the full process 
of finding the square root may be taught, since it is not 
complicated. Its demonstration belongs, however, to 
advanced arithmetic, and hardly comes within the 
needs or purposes of the rural school. 

5. The metric system is very desirable. It would elimi- 
nate most of our uses for common fractions and would 
simplify many calculations. Yet we do not use it in com- 
mon affairs; hence it should be omitted in ordinary 
classes in rural schools. 

6. Longitude and time should be taught in geography, and 
the final practice of using time belts of one hour each 
there explained. 

The traditional text in arithmetic needs to have much 
taken from and generally much by way of vital problems 
added to it. 

The fundamentals in arithmetical instruction. The funda- 
mental things that should be taught may be stated as fol- 
lows: — 

1. The fundamental rules, fractions, ratio, and proportion 
are the tools; everyday home and farm transactions, 
mensuration, and applications of percentage are the 
chief uses for these tools. These are the essentials to 
be taught. 

2. The fundamental aims are two in number: (a) The 
school exercises in arithmetic should relate to the work 
of the child and his surroundings, and should prepare 
as nearly as possible for the experiences of life. (6) Ac- 
curacy, rapidity, and skill in calculations are very 
desirable acquisitions. The elementary combinations 
and their separations should be made automatic. 

3. The fundamental method should be, first, to present 



ARITHMETIC 253 

concrete problems, examples, things to measure, count, 
or calculate; second, to find the general principle illus- 
trated; third, to return to the concrete with applica- 
tions to problems of practical life to fix the principle 
through practice. 

I. Systems of Primary Method 

The old system. Following this general plan pupils were 
first taught the tables, the greatest stress being placed on the 
multiplication tables. These were studied and drilled upon 
somewhat hke the method of beginning reading by first 
learning thoroughly the alphabet. After some degree of effi- 
ciency in the tables, this memory knowledge was tried out in 
working examples. Then the different topics of arithmetic, 
G.C.D., L.C.M., fractions, denominate numbers, percentage, 
profit and loss, mensuration, etc., were all treated separately, 
with no correlations. The method in teaching these was, 
first, committing the rule; second, "doing sums." 

This method was entirely deductive, and taught the ab- 
stract notions first. Modern method puts abstraction and 
deduction last. 

The Grube System. The doctrines of Pestalozzi (1746- 
1827) introduced into school practices many reforms which 
tended to overthrow old methods, especially in primary 
work. He contended that all knowledge is obtained through 
the senses, and instruction should, with young children, be 
based on observation. In arithmetic this led to oral work, 
with observation of objects to develop ideas of number and 
numerical operations. A complete and fully organized 
system of number-teaching along these lines was formulated 
by Grube, and this system has had wide usage. Some of its 
principles are as follows : — 

1. Arithmetic must at first be taught through the observa- 



254 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

tion and handling of objects by the pupils. Number 
concepts are thus to be formed, and with objects the 
pupils are to develop the tables of combinations. 

2. Number in the abstract should be reached through 
concrete examples, well graded from the smaller num- 
bers to larger ones. 

3. Each number should be learned in all its variations, 
before the next higher number is learned. This prin- 
ciple exemplifies the gradation. It will be illustrated 
after the next principle. 

4. Repetition is to be regular and systematic. Variation 
comes in with use of different objects. 

Illustration of variations of a number. ^ may be analyzed 
into the following: — 

4X1 (four ones), 1 X 4, 4 -5- 1, 4 -J- 4. 
3+1,1 + 3,4-3,4-1, 

2+2, 4-2 

2X2, 4 -J- 2 

1/2 of 4, 2/2 of 4 

1 /4 of 4, 2/4 of 4, 3/4 of 4, 4/4 of 4 

All this should be learned according to Grube, before 5 is 
studied, and complemental facts are thus taught together. 

Comment on the Grube System. The system of analysis is 
too complete and logical for the mind of the young child. It 
will take quite a while to learn all the facts of 2, 3, Jf., 5, 6, 
7, and 8, and it seems unreasonable not to learn 9 and 10 
before 8 is so completely analyzed. Though the system for 
quite a while claimed all modern schools and textbooks, it 
has since been modified in many particulars, and largely 
abandoned as a method of instruction in arithmetic. 

A study of this system will exhibit to the teacher the 
number of facts which must finally be taught for any 
number, though the order of teaching these may be changed. 

The Rational System. This system grew out of principles 



AEITHMETIC Q55 

developed in Dewey and McLellan, Psychology of Number.^ 
The method presented therein has been styled the Rational 
Method. Some of its principles are here given. 

1. Number is considered as ratio, not as a mere collection 
of fixed units. It is claimed that the fixed-unit idea of 
the Grube System has been harmful. Number arose 
through comparisons, hence is ratio. Some unit like 
the yardstick is applied to the length of the room, and 
it is contained six times. The idea 6 is a number idea, 
and is the ratio of the two lengths. This would make 
number abstract. Wliat has been called concrete 
number, as 8 yards, $5, etc., is measuTed quantity. 

2. Number originated through measurement; hence the 
measuring idea is the sure guide to teachers. The mere 
counting of objects is not sufficient. 

3. Nature presented to man quantities to be measured; 
man had to learn to measure; and thus the number 
idea arose. Quantity and number, the how much, and 
the how many, are correlatives. 

4. Through measurement a variety of units is empha- 
sized, and the idea of a fixed unit avoided. The unit is 
now a yardstick, next probably a pint measure, and 
again a pound weight. 

5. The Rational Method works from and within a whole 
quantity, not recognizing the necessity of an exhaust- 
ive analysis of one number before using the next 
higher. 

The Speer System and modified systems of developing 
number through comparisons of lines, geometrical figures, 
including solids, are attempts at a rational system. These 
have not gained the popularity once had by the Grube 
Method. 

The Rational System has many good points. It gives new 
1 Dewey and McLellan, Psychology of Number. (D. Appleton & Co.) 



Q56 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

viewpoints, widening the Grube visions. Its notions of 
number and number origin are sound. A study of it will 
help any teacher. It provokes great interest on the part 
of children. 

It seems that we need to do here what we have done 
with the various beginning methods in reading: choose good 
points from each and make a combination method. It costs 
money to purchase a set of Speer blocks. A few may be 
sawed to measure by some of the boys in manual arts. Then, 
to save blackboard time, some pages of the chart made for 
reading may be used for lines, squares, rectangles, triangles, 
etc., for this number work. Pupils may be set to discover 
relations, just as they did Grube combinations mth objects. 

Every school should have a pair of balances with weights, 
a set of dry measures with sand to measure, yardsticks, tin 
money, imitation paper money, clock faces with hands, 
a teacher's box of objects, and individual objects for the 
pupils. 

Characteristics of modem method. The new method calls 
for measuring, weighing, comparing, and thus counting and 
learning combinations. Instead of the old method's way of 
separating topics, to be taught independently, fractions, de- 
nominate numbers, and the various processes — addition, 
subtraction, multiplication, and division — are all taught 
together from the beginning. Correlations should be made 
with other school subjects, and the problems should prepare 
for efficiency in everyday demands. 

Demands on rural-school arithmetic. This last means 
that rural-school arithmetic should deal with real, practical, 
reliable information of farm life. There should be corn prob- 
lems, cattle and hog problems, garden and fruit problems, 
household-expense problems, cooking and sewing problems, 
building and furnishing problems, general financial prob- 
lems, and problems of all other phases of farm life and farm 



ARITHMETIC 257 

management. The examples in the primary classes should 
largely be colored with just such notions. Whatever the 
book used as a text, it should be freely supplemented along 
these lines. 

It is generally slow work to change textbooks from an old 
line to a reformed one, yet the response to these rural needs 
is coming good and strong. Some excellent rural arith- 
metics have been published, and others are rapidly coming. 
A list of some will be given at the end of this chapter. It 
seems that it is now left to the teacher to fall in with the 
new movement, and make of arithmetic one of the impor- 
tant school factors in adapting children to successful and 
happy life in the country. 

However, we must not lose sight of the fact that arith- 
metic is the science of calculations; that the science must 
finally be taught in its elements; that there must be drills 
for efficiency, drills in adding columns, in long division, 
in pointing decimals, in facility and accuracy in everything. 
Here is no place for slipshod, loose thinking or doing. Drill 
cannot be entirely eliminated, but the modern method sim- 
plifies and shortens arithmetic, makes it more practical 
and interesting, furnishes motives for good work, and thus 
reduces drill to the minimum. 

II. Brief Outline of the Arithmetic Course 

Plan of the course. Very little number work need be done 
the first year. No definite amount should be assigned. The 
amount done should depend upon time and the development 
of the class. Something can be done every first year. The 
children may learn foot, inch, yard, pint, quart, gallon, days 
in the week, months in the year, coins of money, dozen, and 
half-dozen. They will delight in playing store, milkman, or 
truck-sellers. Thus they may learn to count to 100, to read 



258 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

and write to 20, to add and subtract simple numbers not 
over 20, and fractions 1/2 and 1/4 to 1/2 of 10 and 1/4 
of 8. 1/3 may or may not be taugbt. If much use of the 
yardstick is made, the foot as 1/3 may be taught. The use 
of the footrule and the yardstick makes 12 an easy number 
to work with. The signs are quickly learned as abbrevia- 
tions. Number plays and counting scores will stimulate to 
good results. 

TJie second year will extend the work in a similar way. 
More drills this year on combinations in abstract problems 
and columns of jSgures. Carrying may come in the latter 
part of the year. The tables may be learned through the 
5's. We have known second-grade children to go farther, 
with apparently good results, but it is better to err on the 
side of too httle than too much of abstract number work 
during the first two years. Drills may develop excellent 
rapidity in adding two numbers, then columns of three 
figures, subtraction, multiplication, and partition within 
the limits of totals they have learned. Devices with certain 
figures in a circle or at star points, and a figure written in 
the center to add to any figure pointed out, to subtract there- 
from any figure designated, to designate products or quo- 
tients, are good devices. These and other drill forms add 
variety to drills which will keep up interest as well as make 
the drills more effective. Number equations, with one place 
vacant to be filled, make good practice. Cards for sight 
work and for seat work are valuable. These may be made in 
quantities on the mimeograph. The pupils may copy the 
cards and return them, which will keep the teacher's supply 
from depleting too rapidly. 

In the third grade systematic arithmetic may be begun. 
Regular reading and writing of numbers and the formal 
methods of the fundamental rules are now to receive atten- 
tion. These with their applications also to the handling of 



AKITmiETIC 259 

fractions will constitute good work for the third and fourth 
years. An elementary textbook should be used. Alterna- 
tion with these two years is not advisable, since certain 
things must be taught first and the maturity of the children 
will count. In teaching notation and numeration, decimal 
fractions may be taught up to three places. In addition and 
subtraction decimals may be used. Familiarity with the 
decimal system, the same for fractions as for whole num- 
bers, and keeping the decimal point may be inculcated 
from the start. Multiplication and division with decimals 
in the multipliers and the divisors should be deferred to the 
fourth year. But with integi'al multipliers and divisors, 
some familiarity with decimals comes with problems in- 
volving dollars and cents. 

The task should be set for the third and fourth years to 
reach proficiency in the fundamental rules and fractions. 
The problems should be as real and practical as can be 
found, and the drills should be constant and vigilant. 

In the fifth and sixth years alternation may be used to 
combine the classes. The work one year may be in the field 
of mensuration and proportion, the other year in the field 
of percentage and its applications. 

In connection with the fifth and sixth years' work the 
work of the third and fourth years in the fundamental opera- 
tions and fractions will be extended and strengthened. It 
may seem to many that the work assigned to the four lower 
grades is too much for them. But keep in mind the sim- 
plicity of the proposed arithmetic. In the first year the 
number work need not be given, except incidentally, but 
children enjoy a little of it if given in concrete form. What 
is not accomplished in learning the tables in the second year 
may be completed the third year, and much may be done in 
the fundamental operations the third year, though many 
schools postpone this still later. If circumstances keep the 



260 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

class back, then the topics here assigned to the fifth and 
sixth years may be used with the sixth and seventh years. 
In this case a book of farm arithmetic should be used in 
these grades. 

However, with the simplifi:cation which should be made, 
the essentials should be well grounded in the fifth and sixth 
years through teaching mensuration and percentage appli- 
cations. 

The seventh year, or the seventh and the eighth alternating, 
may then, in connection with the study of agriculture these 
years, use one of the special agricultural arithmetics, some 
of which are listed at the end of this chapter. 

Induction. In teaching a new topic induction can nearly 
always be used to advantage. The extra time taken up for 
the inductive introduction will be more than regained in 
increased rapidity possible with the clearer understanding 
of the nature of the new processes. 

Interpretation. In the solution of problems one of the 
first steps is to secure a clear understanding of the problem 
considered. Pupils should look through the problem, then 
state its meaning. Suppose the problem is, " When 28 acres 
of land sell for $2688, how much are 21 acres worth at the 
same rate?" 

What is the relation of 21 to 28? The cost of the 21 will 
be what part of the cost of the 28? Find it. 

The pupils should be able to state clearly what is to be 
found, what are given, and the method of relating the two. 

Oral, or mental, arithmetic with typical problems will aid 
in interpretation and systematic solution. Every few days 
have some problems for quick oral solutions. Some older text 
for mental arithmetic may be used as a source of problems. 

Steps in solution. There are often different ways of solv- 
ing a problem. Some general plan of attack should become 
habitual. 



ARITHMETIC 261 

1. Note what is to be found. 

2. Note what are given or known. 

3. Devise the plan to pass from the given to the wanted. 
Note the relation of the wanted to the known, and 
this may suggest the plan of solution. 

4. Check up in some way to test the answer found. It is 
important to get children in the habit of testing. 

Miscellaneous problems. Groups of problems coming 
under various cases should be used often as review practice. 
The exercise thus given in assigning each problem to its right 
class is valuable for pupils. Written tests should frequently 
be given when problems not before seen are presented for 
impromptu solution. These will lead to skill in application. 

Types of arithmetical skill to strive for are in calculation^ 
interpretation, application. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What is the chief reason for arithmetic in the schools? 

2. Take the arithmetic in use and mark all the problems which are of a 
kind not needed by your pupils. Can you eliminate any whole topics? 

3. What practical examples would you add as better ones for rural life? 
Make such a collection for use in primary arithmetic. 

4. What are the advantages and the disadvantages of alternation by 
years with the classes in arithmetic? 

5. Should arithmetic be taught as a separate study, or may it be better 
learned through correlations? Discuss. 

6. How can you use supervised study so as to keep the bright and dull all 
profitably busy in the same arithmetic class? 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

1. Method Books 

McMurry, Chas. Special Methods in Arithmetic. (The Macmillan Com- 
pany.) 
Smith, D. E. The Teaching of Arithmetic. (Teachers College, New York.) 
Stamper, A. The Teaching of Arithmetic. (American Book Company.) 
Suzzallo, H. The Teaching of Primary Arithmetic. (Houghton MiflOiin Com- 
pany.) 



262 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

2. For Method and Material 

Brooks-Belfield. The Rational Elementary Arithmetic. (Scott, Foresman 
Co.) 

A modified Speer System. Good. 

Speer, W. Primary Arithmetic. (For Teachers.) (Ginn & Co.) 

Hoyt and Feet. The Everyday Arithmetic. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 

Stevens-Butler. A Practical Arithmetic. (Charles Scribner's Sons.) 

This has many problems based on the problems of real life. It aims to be 
a complete text for elementary grades. 

3. First-Primary Helps 

Gibbs, Natural Number Primer. (American Book Company.) 
Harris-Waldo. First Journeys in Numberland. (Scott, Foresman Co.) 
Hoyt and Feet. First Year in Number. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Wentworth-Smith. Work and Play with Numbers. (Ginn & Co.) 

4. Special Rural Arithmetics 

Calfee, J. E. Rural Arithmetic. (Ginn & Co.) 

Lewis, C. J. Farm Business Arithmetic. (D. C. Heath & Co.) 

Madden and Turner. A Rural Arithmetic. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 

Shutts and Weir. Agricultural Arithmetic. (Webb Fublishing Company.) 

Stratton and Remick. Agricultural Arithmetic. (The Macmillan Company.) 

Burket and Swartzel. Farm Arithmetic. (Orange-Judd Company.) 

The above special texts are comparatively new and very good. They are 
mainly planned for seventh- or eighth-grade classes, though they may be 
used in the sixth and seventh, and suggestive problems may be found for 
lower grades, or to supplement the text for grades six to eight. Every rural 
teacher should have one or more of these. The first two are probably a little 
more elementary than the others. 



CHAPTER XVI 

ELEMENTARY SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 

Recognition of values. In nature study and agriculture 
we come close to the heart of rural life. In the elementary 
school the value of science is not for science's sake, but for 
its usefulness. There may be in the college or university 
some place for pure science; science in the elementary school 
must be for its applications. Agriculture comes to the 
front as such a great factor in rm*al life that we are logically 
forced to the conclusion that its science is paramount, and 
that in any preparation for life in the country agriculture 
must be given a prominent place. We reached this con- 
clusion years ago; agriculture was prescribed as a common- 
school study; and yet it has made but little headway in get- 
ting into the vital work of the majority of rural schools. 
And nature study, the rich handmaiden to agriculture, has 
had a stiff, formal introduction or has been ignored in this 
majority. These subjects have lacked organization, such as 
arithmetic or grammar has; the textbooks written have often 
failed to be adapted to the child or to the school organiza- 
tion; and the teachers have not come up through these as 
through the older subjects, hence are hesitant about taking 
up an unfamiliar field. 

But these difficulties are melting, the subjects are pressing, 
and nearly every State Manual now gives large place to their 
treatment. The United States Department of Agriculture is 
endeavoring to stimulate the study and practice of agricul- 
ture through boys' and girls' club organizers and other ex- 
tension agencies. Congress is endeavoring to extend the aid 
of the National Government to vocational education in the 



264 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

common schools. The most extensive and fundamental vo- 
cation is that of agriculture, which will be greatly advanced 
by governmental aid. It remains for the local authorities 
and the teachers to wake up to a realization of its great 
value. 

Nature study is the beginning of agriculture, and the 
agriculture of the common schools is agricultural nature 
study. These studies have a practical value, bearing on the 
great part they play in earning a livelihood in the country. 
They have great sesthetic value. The child has a nature 
instinct which leads him to revel in the beauties of the 
leaves, butterflies, birds, fields, forests, and streams. He 
has a call to nature and primitive hfe, and much can be 
done to cultivate his sesthetic imagination and his love 
of the beautiful in nature. Poets of all ages have been 
inspired by nature, and their writings are sources of 
great joy for those who have developed the appreciative 
spirit. 

Moral and religious value of science. These subjects have 
a moral and religious value. In caring for plants and ani- 
mals, especially flowers, gardens, and pets, the altruistic has 
a field of development. Contact with nature and domestic 
animals makes for that stability of character that city people 
are losing. Furthermore, the rational foundations of reli- 
gious belief are laid in an abiding interest in the works 
of God. Necessity for a Creator may be shown. There 
is evidence of immeasurable power,, transcendent wisdom, 
and supreme goodness everywhere manifest. Mighty forces 
come from the sun. But who endowed the sun? Food, air, 
sunshine, and water are here in proportion to our needs. 
Who ordained it so? Behold the adaptability of structure in 
plant and animal, due to years of endless creation. Who 
arranged it so through all these ages? " The heavens declare 
the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork." 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 265 

** In wisdom thou hast made them all; the earth is full of thy 
riches." 

We need not expand the training value for habits of ob- 
servation, for discerning relations, and for constructive im- 
agination, since this much is generally conceded. If " life is 
response to the order of nature," and if the function of edu- 
cation is " preparation for complete living," then we must 
bring children to know and to appreciate nature that they 
may secure that response which will bring the higher and 
more complete life. 

Man's racial evolution. The parallel between the develop- 
ment of the child and the race is here again suggestive. The 
early lessons of primitive man were the lessons taught by 
nature, and learned through ages of strenuous experience, 
yet these lessons brought a development not surpassed by 
that since history began. What was the character of this 
education.? 

1. Primitive man had to learn to outwit, conquer, and 

finally domesticate powerful and useful animals. 
^. He had to learn early the use of plants for food, skins 

and plants for clothing and shelter, and care of self for 

health. 

3. He had to find out how to make and to use weapons, 
tools and utensils of wood, stone, bone, and metal. 

4. He gained a knowledge of the elements and of the 
heavenly bodies as clocks. 

5. He learned the value of certain soils and climates, of 
home, and of community life with human cooperation. 

6. He early learned to express himself through drawings, 
etchings, colorings, and artistic work in ivory and 
pottery. 

This early education brought marvelous results before 
letters and books. Man learned from outside nature. Man 
has divine commission to *' subdue the earth and have do- 



266 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

minion over every living thing." There are several steps in 
this: (1) Domestication of animals. (2) Cultivation of the 
soil. (3) Control of the elements. (4) Dominion over self. 
" And the last enemy to be overcome is death." 

There could be no effectual cultivation of the soil without 
domestic animals, such as the ox and the horse. Man ceased 
to be a wanderer, and began to develop civilized institutions 
when he settled down to the cultivation of certain fertile 
spots. Then came home, country, specialized labor, inven- 
tions, exchange, art, letters, science, and spiritualized hu- 
manity. 

A parallel evolution in the study of nature. Out of a re- 
view of man's racial development we get these suggestions 
for the first steps in nature study: — 

1. Sympathetic interest in animal life, especially animals 
as related to human interests. (Pets, useful animals, 
pests.) 

2. The soil, its cultivation, plants, etc. Competitive 
growing of plants and flowers is good to bring chil- 
dren to observe natural laws, and to become inter- 
ested in growing things. 

3. Observation of the sun, moon, stars, weather, and 
natural laws.' (Physics, chemistry, hygiene.) 

These open up the channels of elementary agriculture 
which are the following: — 

1. Animal industry and animal pests. (Pigs, poultry, 
cattle, insects.) 

2. Agriculture in its literal sense, field culture. (Corn, 
tomatoes, potatoes, wheat, hay.) 

3. Gardening, flower and fruit culture. 

4. Home-making. And this may be extended to include 
site, buildings, sanitation, cooking, sewing, embroidery, 
decoration, recreation, and community cooperation. 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 267 

I. Elementary Nature Study 

Methods. The jSrst step must be an orderly planning of 
topics for sequences of study. There should be some organ- 
ized plan for a progressive course of study. No fixed course 
of study has been agreed upon by any two writers of nature- 
study manuals, nor is a fixed course of study desirable. 
The selection and presentation of topics must vary for dif- 
ferent sections of the country. In Florida snow does not 
fall nor do the robins build their nests. In Michigan the 
orange and the cotton blossoms are not convenient speci- 
mens. Specimens must vary, too, somewhat according to 
the character of the school, the one-teacher school hav- 
ing to limit the topics and the field trips, also to keep alter- 
nation in mind. Some suggestions on the course of study 
will be offered farther on. 

Guiding principles in selection. In selecting what to do 
in any school the following guiding principles may be 
given : — 

1. The specimens selected for study should belong to the 
immediate surroundings. The lessons are not to be 
mere information lessons about objects in any land, 
but are to lead the children to interpret the out-of- 
doors, to appreciate the beauties of their environment, 
to have eyes and to see. The indoor lessons should be 
to arouse interest and to stimulate outside observations 
and applications, or to discuss what has been observed 
in a field trip with the teacher, or in a quest following 
directions. The child is to be brought into sympathetic 
and intelligent relations with his real environment, and 
then his horizon is to be broadened. 

2. There is an embarrassment of riches from which to 
choose, some 300,000 species of animals, and 200,000 
of plants. As in geography, the solution lies in type 



ms TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

studies. The specimens should be types of important 
groups. A few types may give a fairly good idea of 
all. The classifications in botany and zoology will aid 
in selections from groups, — insects, amphibia, birds, 
mammals, etc. Elementary principles found in some 
recent book of general science will guide in the inor- 
ganic work of natural laws. A teacher can easily 
work through these books, even without having stud- 
ied them in school or college. 
3. The specimens should, as far as possible, lead to valu- 
able observation and application to the practical affairs 
of life, or to an appreciation of beauty or fitness. 
The cornfield pea takes nitrogen out of the air and puts it 
into the soil, whereas the farmer must pay high prices for 
nitrogen in commercial fertilizers. Certain common insects 
are destructive or dangerous, and these should be recog- 
nized in any stage of development. The value of birds and 
toads stamps these as useful specimens. 

Methods of study. The second step is one of observation 
of the specimen under study. First, the teacher should find 
out what the pupils have seen, then guide them to see more. 
Skillful questioning will do this in an inductive way. Some 
of the principles of study given under picture lessons will 
apply equally here. The observations should be orderly. 
Children will naturally have a tendency to see things in a 
haphazard way, without logical connections. To overcome 
this the teacher's questions must be planned in order. Lead- 
ing questions need to be prepared in advance, due considera- 
tion being given to any questions of children as the lesson 
proceeds. The observations should be thoughtful, the pupil 
interpreting properly what he sees. The questions need to 
be thought-provoking, the why often in evidence. The ob- 
servations should be complete. Pupils should not stop until 
they have seen all they ought to see. A definite plan will be 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 269 

needed for this, one with a beginning and an end. Let the 
life story of plant or animal stand out. What can it do and 
how is it fitted to do it. 

The third step is proper expression. All the various forms 
should be cultivated, but especially oral and written lan- 
guage, drawing, cutting, and modeling. Have oral descrip- 
tions and life stories, with occasional written lessons. En- 
courage drawing of leaves, flowers, animals, trees, anything 
studied. Have these as a matter of course, not as regular 
drawing lessons, yet they will be the best of drawing lessons. 
Leaf, flower, and animal forms may be cut in paper, or 
pricked and embroidered. This is good industrial busy-work 
in correlation. Outlines for embroidering may be had from 
any kindergarten supply house, such as the Milton Bradley 
Company. 

CorrelaMng the work with other subjects. Pictures and 
literary gems should be brought in, the artist and the poet 
thus helping the child to appreciate the beautiful. Free use 
of memory gems from hteratiu'e at appropriate times is 
valuable. The reading of inspiring books is to be recom- 
mended. Such are the works of Burroughs, Seton-Thomp- 
son, Thoreau, Johannot, Miller, Wright, and others. 

Lessons need to be planned with seasonal fitness, though 
not all can be so planned. When winter prevents many out- 
door observations, the greater amount of the time may be 
devoted to physiology and hygiene, the emphasis shifting to 
the other topics in fall and spring. 

About the latter part of November celebrate Arbor Day 
and plant trees. Encourage children to plant at home also. 
About April 1 have a Bird Day. 

Organize, with the primary children, flower, plant, and 
garden clubs corresponding to the agricultural clubs of the 
older ones. Have winter bird clubs for feeding birds in cold 
cHmates. Let the smaller children enter the competitive 



270 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

exhibits, as in the case of the other clubs at a school fair. 
Have pupils make individual collections for exhibition. 

Correlate nature study with language, drawing, model- 
ing, geography, memory gems, physiology, and agriculture. 
Autumn leaves are excellent to be drawn in outline, then 
colored, or cut in paper and colored. A blue jay is a fine 
model for drawing and color; so is a peach blossom, and later 
a spray of blossoms, then a tree in bloom. Butterflies, tad- 
poles, toads, bare trees, various fruits, and countless other 
things are excellent subjects. Map-drawing of local places 
leads to landscape sketching. Charcoal, pen, and brush may 
gradually come in. 

For modeling in clay or putty, an apple, a peach, a tomato, 
or an animal form are all good models. 

The making of weather-vanes, windmills, waterwheels, 
bird-houses, insect-cages, fly-traps, cold-frames, screens for 
windows and doors, beehives, aquaria, fireless cookers, 
refrigerators, siphons, and many other things correlated is 
the best kind of handicraft. 

Suggestive materiaL In the first group for alternation 
will be grades one and two; in the second group, grades three 
and four; in the third group, grades five and six; and in the 
fourth group, grades seven and eight, if there is an eighth 
grade in the elementary school. 

1, Grade One, In the fall a study of leaves. A collection of 
autumn leaves arranged according to shape. Have some 
drawn in outline and colored. Falling of leaves. Evergreen 
trees. Compare typical local trees, such as hickory, pine, 
elm; note form, parts, arrangement of buds, fruit, habitat. 
The second year take oak, walnut, etc. 

The dog, rabbit, and squirrel are convenient subjects, be- 
ginning with the dog. The cat is a good substitute. Have a 
gentle dog brought in for several days' study. His feet, 
claws, dew claws, and limbs are interesting to begin with. 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 271 

Compare with hands and limbs of man. Study teeth, hair, 
ears, nose. Have pupils tell of his habits and of different 
kinds of dogs. Why do poor families often keep so many 
dogs.f^ If it is not convenient to have a dog present for study, 
the next best plan will be to give them some things to jBnd 
out about at home and talk about next day. 

Then, if a gentle rabbit can be kept about the school for a 
few days of similar study and comparison with the dog, this 
will be a good lesson to follow the dog. A squirrel will next 
be of interest, though he cannot be handled like the others. 
Properties of fur, hair, etc., food and care of domestic ani- 
mals, and their use to man are valuable topics. A chicken 
also forms an interesting and practical study. 

Preparation of plants and animals for winter. Collect 
cocoons, and keep these in cool places for spring observa- 
tion. 

2. Grade Two. The second year study grass-eaters, such 
as the horse, cow, sheep, and goat. Have a cage covered 
with netted cloth. Collect some caterpillars and "green 
worms " to feed in the cage until they make cocoons. Col- 
lect other cocoons. 

In the winter pass to man's protection against the cold of 
winter, his food, and its digestion. Study skin, hair, nails; 
their uses and care. Cleanliness, clothing, houses. Primitive 
houses and dress. 

The second year may continue with primitive and 
modern methods of making fire, cooking, grinding, etc. The 
teeth, construction, use, care. Proper way to eat. Foods, 
digestive system, circulatory system. The sun our great 
giver of heat and light. 

Begin an interest in winter birds. Some should be fed, 
made gentle, and observed. 

For the spring the first songs of spring's return should be 
noted. The cocoons should be put in the cage to develop. 



272 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

and the moths and butterflies noted. Drawings should be 
made of the cocoons, then of their respective insects. 

The coming of leaves and flowers should be noted. Which 
come first in the elm? The maple? The dogwood? The 
cherry? The apple? Collect spring leaves to arrange accord- 
ing to veining. 

Study flowers, parts of, falling parts, the remaining fruit. 
Uses of flowers. Uses of leaves. The return of the birds. 
Their nesting, eggs, and young. 

These are a few possible topics to suggest beginnings. In 
the winter there may be a study of apples, oranges, and 
nuts. In the fall a collection of seeds and nuts, each child to 
have a seed box. In the spring some of these seeds are to be 
planted and observed. A very full array of subjects well 
arranged can be found in Holtz's Nature Study ^ from which 
the rural teacher may select. The program given by Holtz 
is so full that it may be confusing at first, hence the attempt 
to indicate here some simple beginnings. However, in the 
course of time, the full array will be very helpful as a source 
to furnish variety yet keep orderly. 

In these first primary grades the children should become 
somewhat familiar with many things in their environment, 
so as to recognize common leaves, trees, birds, flowers, 
butterflies, moths, etc. They should by this time have an 
active interest in outdoor life, a sympathetic attitude to- 
ward useful animals and plants, and an appreciation of the 
world of beauty. The life stories of a few animals should be 
known. Some plants should be studied in a similar way. 
The dandelion is a wide-spread plant, interesting to study 
in early spring. Its leaves show the teeth of the lion; hence 
its name, dan- ((Z^tis) de-lion. Its nightly behavior, its flowers, 
its peculiar seeds and their mode of travel, and other features 
make it valuable as a study. It is excellent for drawing and 
coloring. In the Middle West it is a troublesome weed. 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 273 

Some common garden vegetable, probably the bean or 
pea, may be studied from the seed to fruit, and something 
of weather and seasonal changes noted, along with their 
effects upon the behavior of animals and plants. 

All this should be done largely informally, inductively, 
and as foundations for lessons in reading, language, drawing, 
and modeling. 

3. Grades Three and Four. These are grades for the geo- 
graphical nature studies partly outlined under primary 
geography. Much additional may be brought in by correla- 
tion. Further studies of cocoons and chrysalids, wdth their 
corresponding larvae and adult insects, should lead to more 
ready recognition of these in any stage. An aquarium will 
be of interest. This may be used in the fall for fishes, and in 
the spring for tadpoles. Some animals connecting up with 
the geographical studies will be the earthworm, the snail, the 
crawfish, the toad, the dragon fly, the mosquito, the crane, 
the snipe, the wild duck, and the animals of higher up the 
slopes. Some pictures and stories of animal life in various 
regions of the world, and some insight into how all these are 
adapted to their homes, will add much to the building of 
interests. 

Outline of work. Two outlines of possible type studies 
are given to show method and plan for this work. 

I. Outline Study of the Earthworm (Type of Worm) 

1. Haunts and habits. Where have you seen earthworms? Where 
can you find them now? What have you ever seen them do? 
When do they come out of the ground? Did you ever see a bird 
try to pull one out? Did you ever try the same? How does it 
hold on? Can it climb? 

2, Its body. Specimens should be obtained and distributed for 
study. The room should not be too hot and dry. Slightly 
damp paper on each desk will serve to hold the specimen. 

Note the body carefully. How long is it? How does it 



274 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

travel? Try to make it go the other end foremost. Leave it 
alone again; which way does it crawl? Draw the inference, 
head and tail ends. Are both ends exactly alike? Tell any 
difference. Roll it on the other side. What did it do? Will 
it crawl with the same side up every time? Can you see any 
difference between sides? (Upper and lower sides.) W^hat else 
do you see about its body? (Rings, collar, veins, etc.) Where 
is its mouth? What will it eat? 

3. Sensation. Has it any feeling? Can it see? Will light affect 
it. It will crawl around a leaf, then turn the small end of the 
leaf toward its hole and drag in that end first. How is it able 
to do so well? (Instinct.) To use feeling and instinct thus 
it must have a nervous system. Explain its brain, spinal cord, 
and ganglia. 

4. Have you ever seen young worms? Are they at all like old 
ones? Hatch from eggs? 

6. Uses, (a) Its piles of castings brought out in making its hole. 
Plough soil; nature's first ploughs. Average of about ten tons 
to the acre brought up this way. Soil-maker, (b) Holes for 
roots, water, air. (c) Leaves enrich soil, {d) Cover seeds. 

6. Adaptations. How is it adapted to its life? (Shape, eyes, 
bones, legs, slime.) Draw a worm. Draw a bird pulling a 
worm out of its hole. 

Darwin's Vegetable Mould and the Earthworm is good to read for 
this study. 

//. Outline Study of the Toad {Type of Amphibian) 

Compare with crawfish and earthworm. Is a vertebrate. What 
other vertebrates? Is an amphibian. What is that? What others? 
Are any toads found around here? When? They come from 
where? 

1. Some of them out of the ground. (Hibernation.) 

The toad is a cold-blooded animal; its blood changes tem- 
perature with its surrounding air. When air gets too cool, 
the toad becomes stupid, inactive. It goes into a kind of 
death sleep in which it hardly moves or breathes. Do you 
know of any other cold-blooded animal? Any other hiberna- 
ting animal? In the garden sometimes lizards may be forked 
up. 
What does the toad do to get ready for this sleep? Watch 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 275 

one dig in backward sometimes. What wakes it? What does 
it do then? 
2. Some of them come out of the water. (Cycle of Hfe.) 

The toad lives on land, sometimes far from water, but the 
early part of its life was spent in water. There is where we 
must look for its eggs. Look for some about ponds in April, 
or when you hear the frog chorus of a spring evening. How 
does it make that noise? 

Can you tell toad's eggs from frog's eggs? (Toad's in strings 
or egg ropes; frog's in bunches. The black spots are eggs in 
the slimy ropes.) Get toad's eggs, since these develop faster. 
Place some in a basin of water from some pond and trans- 
fer to schoolroom aquarium. If weather is right, they will 
hatch in two or three days. What is the young toad 
called? What is it like? Compare in this respect with young 
of worms and crawfish. Watch one several days and see if it 
likes to stay under water all the time. How does it breathe 
under water? (Like fish.) Describe its actions as it grows 
older, and account for them. 

Tadpoles may be brought in for the aquarium. Toad tad- 
poles are dark, frog tadpoles are lighter gray. Get toads. 

Watch carefully when they are from four to six weeks 

old. Legs begin to grow. Which first? Shape changes. What 

becomes of tail? (Absorbed; does not drop ofiF.) Finally one is 

transformed into a toad. After a warm rain, have you seen 

many little toads? Some people say they are rained down, 

but not so. 

What will an adult toad eat? Any flying, creeping, crawling 

thing it can swallow, — fly, caterpillar, spider, worm, wasp, etc. 

One has been seen to eat twenty-four caterpillars in ten minutes; 

another to catch and eat thirty-five celery worms in three hours. 

One will eat ten thousand insects in a year. Put one in a flytrap 

containing many flies, and watch it eat them. How catch them? 

Its tongue is fastened at the front end and folds back in mouth. 

It throws this out and flirts the fly back. Its tongue is sticky also. 

How is it a friend to man? To the garden? Why not put many 

in the garden? Does it do harm? What are its enemies? Should 

you be enemy or friend? 

After hibernating two or three wmters the little toad becomes a 
big one. Some spring when it awakes from a long sleep, it has a long- 
ing to get back to the pond where its life began. It finds water and 



276 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

lays a great many eggs, perhaps a thousand or two, some in horse 
tracks, some in rain pools, some in larger ponds. Will these all 
hatch and live? Some pools quickly dry up. 

After laying eggs, its cycle of life is complete, though it may live 
seven or eight years longer. 

A leaflet on The Toad, published by the Cornell University Bu- 
reau of Nature Study, supplied much of the above outline. 

These are suggestive inductive studies to indicate a 
method of gradual inquiry to prompt observation and a 
growing insight into natural life. These are worth far more 
than book studies. Nature stories and nature readers may 
accompany to advantage, but they should never supplant 
first-hand lessons with real nature, where pupils see and dis- 
cover for themselves. 

The plant lessons of these two years ma^ center in and 
around the garden, yard, and places visited in excursions. 
This is the time for school-garden plots for each child, to 
prepare for the club work to follow at home. 

Meier's School and Home Gardens is a valuable handbook 
for teachers. 

A fuller list of topics arranged for the seasons will be 
found in Holtz's Nature Study. 

The correlation in physiology and hygiene may be the 
following: Lungs, respiration, bodily heat, hygiene of 
breathing, ventilation and heating. The voice and its or- 
gans. The nervous system and the organs of special sense. 
Adaptations and hygiene of the nervous system. Compari- 
sons with other animals studied. Do plants breathe? Do 
any plants behave like nervous beings? (Sensitive Plant, 
Venus Fly Trap, etc.) 

4. The upper grades. Similar general studies may be car- 
ried on into the upper grades, and including some simple 
studies in physics, such as sound, heat, light, and electricity. 
A few simple lessons in astronomy can be given with ad- 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 277 

vantage, and Miss Pratt's Storyland of Stars (Educational 
Publishing Company) forms an interesting reading book for 
fifth and sixth grade children. In rural schools, though, the 
upper grade work should culminate largely in agriculture for 
both boys and girls, the girls omitting some of the work of 
the boys and bringing in other forms of science study in the 
work in domestic science. School gardening and boys' and 
girls' clubs work well in the fifth and sixth grades, and more 
intensive studies of birds, insects, weeds, soils, and agri- 
cultural topics in the seventh and eighth. 

II. Agriculture 

The teaching of agriculture. In the congested condition of 
classes in a rural school, with but one or at most only a few 
teachers, it has seemed difficult to arrange time for teaching 
agriculture in a satisfactory way. Yet the need is very great, 
and it is practicable to teach the elements. This is not best 
done merely through teaching an elementary textbook in 
the highest grade. If such a book planned for one year's 
work is adopted for use, it must be divided into topics se- 
lected for each of two years, for alternation, and the topics 
of each year supplemented by bulletins from agricultural 
colleges, from the United States Department of Agriculture, 
from state normal schools, and from other sources. For- 
tunately these are not only multiplying in number, but are 
being written in more suitable language for children. There 
are also many supplementary books of great interest and 
value now to be found in nature study and many phases of 
agriculture. 

Nature study leads up to and supplements the text- 
book in agriculture. Then, not to be neglected, club and 
home practice in connection mth the topics being treated 
in school is of highest value. The teacher need be only the 



278 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

inspirer and director, giving a few hours each week to two 
or more groups of pupils. The textbook, with other topics 
arranged so as to give a systematic treatment of the leading 
phases, may be used for alternation with the two upper 
classes, the sixth and seventh, or the seventh and eighth, 
reciting together. Below this there may be alternation with 
groups of clubs. Nature study should be continued through- 
out. Language, arithmetic, spelling, drawing, handicrafts, 
and geography lessons may all grow out of the lessons in 
agriculture, hence through correlation time may be gained. 
The teacher should not fail to make such beginnings as 
are possible and gradually extend the work, for ways will 
open. 

School gardens. In many cases school gardens as under- 
taken in the past have been failures. They will be of greatest 
service where the school has a principal's home on an acre- 
age of school land. However, if there is any land which may 
be used for small plots, the younger children should each be 
given a plot for growing some spring vegetables and flowers. 
Four feet by eleven feet is a convenient size for each plot, 
with walks two feet wide between. This size contains a 
thousandth part of an acre, which will make calculation easy 
for determining the amount of any fertilizer, and for com- 
paring yields. If the fertilizer directions call for one-haK ton 
per acre, this would be one pound for each plot. These plots 
could be used with the little folks for practice in planting, 
germinating, and caring for certain standard things easy to 
grow. The plots may be staked off and assigned in the fall, 
and each instructed in clearing off, mellowing up, fertilizing, 
etc., to be ready for spring. In the spring, a list of seed 
packets may be given each one, to procure seed through 
home orders, or the cost of each list may be brought to the 
teacher to order for the group. The pupils then should be 
told when to mellow up the plots, when and how to plant 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 279 

each kind of seed, and how to hoe and water the crop. Prizes 
may be offered for all plots nearly perfect. 

For the older pupils such plots could be used for experi- 
ments to compare different varieties, or to compare results 
under different treatment in preparation of soil, in applica- 
tion of fertilizers, and especially in noting differences with 
selected seed in one plot and random seed in another plot. 
These experiments could be made valuable only in so far as 
the time of the school term would permit, but something 
could be accomplished in the spring of every year. Even if 
there is no ground for such plots, something may yet be 
done with flowers and shrubbery in the school yard, and in 
pots and window gardens. Bulbs in glasses make growths 
interesting to observe, and furnish lessons in school to be 
repeated at home. Hyacinths, Chinese Lilies, and Narcissi 
are good types. Decorative pot plants may be similarly 
treated. Pupils should be encouraged to duplicate at home 
some of the school illustrations. Bulbs, flowering plants, 
and decorative shrubbery should be treated in the school 
yard, not only for beautifying the school yard but for illus- 
trative lessons to be applied in home yards. Pupils may 
thus learn varieties and treatment, and may have their 
sesthetic natures developed to appreciate more highly the 
joys of life thus attainable. 

Boys* and girls' clubs. One of the most valuable helps in 
the teaching of agriculture has come through the United 
States Department of Agriculture, with its forces aiding in 
the work of forming boys' and girls' clubs. This movement 
started as a state-wide movement in New York State un- 
der direction of Cornell University, about 1898. Later the 
United States Department of Agriculture, through exten- 
sion workers in the Southern States, stimulated the organi- 
zation of boys' corn clubs. The Department supplied the 
geed, to make sure of the first essential, and each boy who 



280 TEACfflNG IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

entered a club pledged himself to cultivate one acre strictly 
according to directions furnished him in bulletins and other- 
wise through visits from the extension agent or instructions 
from the teacher. Some results were astounding. Li States 
with an average corn yield of from twelve to fifteen bushels 
per acre, young boys raised over one hundred bushels per 
acre, many going as high as one hundred eighty, and the 
prize over all went to a boy in South Carolina who secured 
over two hundred. This was probably the most convincing 
argument that has ever been made for scientific agriculture, 
and it opened an inviting door to every rural school in the 
land, especially to the one-teacher school with such limited 
time for agricultural lessons or school gardens, or with no 
facilities for school gardens. 

Types of clubs organized. Under the continued cooper- 
tion of the United States Department of Agriculture, with 
its extension workers in the States, the club idea has spread 
well throughout the South, where the first experiments were 
tried. Beginning with corn clubs, the projects have ex- 
tended to cotton clubs, pig clubs, cattle clubs, and four- 
crop clubs, mostly for boys. Not to neglect the girls, clubs 
have formed for cooking and sewing, for poultry raising, 
for gardening, and for canning. These clubs are not limited 
exclusively to either sex. 

Other States have of their own initiative organized 
widely for club work, usually without the cooperation of the 
general government. New York, the leader, has probably 
one hundred thousand children in these clubs, and leaflets 
giving directions are sent to several thousand teachers. 
Ohio, Nebraska, and Oregon are examples of other States 
with state-wide organizations. 

The general plan for these clubs. The general plan is to 
begin with corn clubs for boys, and tomato and canning 
clubs for girls. These may begin with children about ten 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 281 

years of age. Pig clubs, or dairy clubs, or poultry clubs, or 
home economic clubs may follow. Garden clubs may be 
berry clubs, fruit clubs, four-crop clubs, or general garden- 
ing clubs. The opportunities are many. The caution needs 
to be given not to start too many at one time, but be very 
thorough-going in a few, and vary from year to year. 

Organizing a county. These clubs cannot be a great suc- 
cess operated by the general government and the agricul- 
tural colleges independent of the schools. It is best for the 
clubs and the schools that they merge their interests. The 
county superintendents are in best positions to organize for 
the counties. Before the school term opens the plans should 
be explained, and directions put in the hands of the teachers 
to give to pupils. Then the pupils of about ten to twelve 
years should be encouraged to join the primary clubs, prob- 
ably corn clubs for boys, tomato clubs for girls. Bulletins 
from the United States Department of Agriculture and 
state institutions should be secured for use. These should 
be distributed, as needed, and meetings, at least weekly, 
should be held for the discussion of the bulletins and prob- 
lems arising. The pupils are to secure the land at home and 
carry out instructions raising the crops. A county school 
fair is generally held, where results are exhibited and prizes 
awarded to individuals and schools. Local fairs may first 
be held, and also the winners in the county fair may be 
sent to the state fair. 

Independent organizations. If a county superintendent 
does not organize his county, any school or district may take 
it up independently, and if other counties have organized, 
this school or district may send exhibits to the state fair. 
No school need be debarred. The teacher has the oppor- 
tunity of teaching agriculture through the organization of 
these clubs, explanation of the bulletins, and holding school 
exhibits. Extension agents may often be called in to assist 



282 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

in explaining bulletins and giving directions. The extension 
agents should always come merely as teacher-helpers, and 
these agents should know and be in sympathy with teach- 
ing and teachers' problems. Some such agents are chosen 
merely as agricultural experts, and a few of these have at 
times caused friction. On the other hand many teachers 
have not appreciated the opportunity at their door, and 
have not been helpful in the club work. There is no good 
reason why there should not be an admirable spirit of mu- 
tual helpfulness. 

Advantages of the project method. This club project 
method has many advantages. It carries education into 
life's activities. It goes further than mere lessons in school 
or experiments on somewhat artificial plots. It is everyday 
life; even the money profit is a factor. A notebook should 
be kept of things done in the project, and occasional reports 
written. These are excellent composition lessons. The cost 
of everything should be noted, and a final balance of profit 
or loss shown. This is a combined lesson in economy, thrift, 
scientific management, arithmetic, and farm accounts, yet 
simple for all. Incidentally pupils learn to observe more 
closely, to recognize a good specimen as well as an im- 
perfect one, and to know the insect and other enemies to 
combat. Thus the project method furnishes ideal motiva- 
tion, and finally covers nearly the same ground as the sub- 
ject method of the textbook plan which may, if thought 
necessary, be carried on with the project plan the last two 
years of the elementary school. 

Exhibits and awards. To carry on these projects, any 
teacher should first find out from the county superintendent 
what the organization is for the county, and what are the 
selected projects for the year. Then the list of bulletins 
should be obtained from the United States Department, and 
from any state sources, and the needed ones ordered. Some 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 283 

prominent farmers, merchants, etc., may be solicited to 
offer prizes, and these prizes should be annomiced as soon 
as possible. However, it is probably more in line with edu- 
cational ideals to have only ribbon awards, blue for first 
quality, and red for a few others of superior quality. And 
it must be required that nothing shall be exhibited except 
the results produced by the pupil exhibiting. Boys, girls, 
and parents must then be enlisted to cooperate. In the fall, 
before the corn is finally gathered, the seed ears should be 
selected from the field for the corn-club planting. Every- 
thing should thus be anticipated as far as possible, and the 
project will almost run itseK after it is well begun. 

III. Advanced Nature and Agricultural Studies 

For the upper grades more advanced topics in nature 
study and agriculture may be undertaken. To illustrate 
what may be done in these grades we give a suggested out- 
line for bird study, and a general outline, by months, for 
further nature study work of an agricultural type. 

Outline for general bird study. Children of all ages may 
be interested in birds, and bird topics may be used in any 
of the grades. At first the studies should deal with individ- 
ual birds, but somewhere along the line some general les- 
sons should be given. The following are suggestive topics : — 

1. Bird characteristics. What is a bird? Is a chicken a bird? Is 
a bat a bird? Can all birds fly? Which birds cannot fly very 
far? How prevent a hen from flying over the fence? Explain. 
Is a bird's tail any help to the bird? Why are the feathers on 
a woodpecker's tail so stiff? What differences have you no- 
ticed in the bills of birds? Why the differences? What dif- 
ferences in their feet? (Walking, swimming, perching.) Some 
bird orders? (Prey: hawks, owls. Climbers: woodpeckers, 
parrots. Perchers: robins, sparrows. Scratchers: chickens, 
pigeons. Waders: snipes, cranes. Swimmers: ducks, geese.) 



284 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

2. Haunts and habits. Where find birds you know? What birds 
remain about here all the year? Why do some migrate earlier 
than others? (Food.) Are many birds found in dense forests? 
Why so? Which birds like trees? Meadows? Houses? Which 
are "birds of the air"? 

Do all birds sing? Name some song birds? Tell something 
of their songs. Which is your favorite? Longfellow speaks of 
these songs as "Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught." 

In what different ways do birds move about on the ground? 
(Study a few. The robin sometimes walks, generally hops.) 
Perch on limbs? Fly through the air? 

3. Bird enemies. Do birds have enemies? Know their enemies? 
How show this? In what ways are some birds enemies of 
others? Which birds build where enemies cannot well get at 
their nests? How do the young behave in these nests? In 
other nests? Why do some birds come near houses to build 
nests? This has brought them what other enemies? How do 
old birds protect young? Why have men become enemies of 
birds? Girls and women? Which birds make choicest decora- 
tions? Is this ornamentation civilized or barbarous? Should 
we be friends or enemies of birds? Why? 

Jt. Nests and nesting. When do birds build the first nests of the 
year? Why are these birds like pioneers? Which stand the 
best chance, April or July nests? Why? Suppose the early 
nest is robbed? Do birds mate after the spring return, or do 
they return with mates? Which birds sing, male or female? 
Which have the gay plumage? Account for this. Which do 
the work, build, sit, feed young? 

Do most birds build high or low? Why? What bird lays 
eggs on dry leaves, no nest? How behave when approached? 
What is a parasite? Find out about the cow bird. 

What birds rear more than one brood a season? Only 
one? Do birds return another year to same nest? Do birds 
teach their young? Do they have emotions such as grief, sor- 
row, joy? Should we respect these? 
5. Study of special birds. Much has yet to be learned of the real 
life of birds. If a child comes to know fully and sympathetically 
a few varieties, it will be better than too scattered a general 
knowledge. Choose some convenient varieties, then search 
for others in their haunts and homes. Observe nests, not- 
ing (a) location, surroundings, material of nests, (b) Color, 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 285^ 

shape, number of eggs, (c) Time from first egg till first hatch. 
From hatch till leaving nest? {d) Appearance and behavior 
of young birds, (e) Which bird feeds the young? What food? 
(/) Difference in appearances of male and female? (g) Note 
bird parts, behavior, flight, song, etc. Keep a notebook and 
write up each series of observations. 

Make a bird house open on the side opposite the entrance 
hole, and fasten to a window of a house so that the open side 
is against the window pane. Birds will often build in such a 
nest, then you have a joyous observatory. 

6. General summary. Distinguishing marks of birds. Location 
in animal kingdom. Families and their characteristics. Parts 
of a bird and their functions. Life story of a bird. Uses to 
man. 

7. The uses of birds, (a) Birds destroy millions of insects and their 
eggs, (h) Trees and all vegetation are necessary to human 
life. Insects multiply so rapidly, if left alone, they would 
destroy all vegetation. Lawns, gardens, groves, grain fields, 
would soon be desolation without birds to check insect rav- 
ages, (c) Birds inspect all trees, limb by limb, bud by bud, 
searching for insects, eggs, and larvae as no human eye can 
search, {d) Take all birds from woodlands, fields, and yards, 
and we would then realize how much beauty they add to our 
landscape. Their music is the sweetest in nature, and they 
fill the world with rare beauty and melody, {e) Birds are as 
necessary to man as are the showers of spring. They are 
worth $500,000,000 annually to farmers of the United States. 

In 1891 and 1892 there was a starvation time in Russia due 
to insect ravages, the birds having been killed by excessive 
freezes. Without birds, human life seems impossible. 

8. Birds decreasing. Why? How save them, (a) Value of for- 
ests. Folly of ruthless destruction of trees. Bird Day and 
Arbor Day go well together. (6) Millions of birds slaughtered 
to feed the vanity of women. Discourage this, (c) Sportsmen 
and boys shoot thousands. Teach their use and beauty. Let 
boys expend their shooting instincts on English sparrows. A 
study of our common partridges, Bob White, will convince 
that we should domesticate him. A covey will clean a potato 
patch of bugs. This bird in numbers will eliminate the boll 
weevil. He is a voracious eater of weed seeds. He can be 
tamed, and he may be made a coworker of marvelous worth. 



m& TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

REFERENCES FOR BIRD STUDY 

An excellent book for teachers and pupils is the school edition of The 
First Book of Birds, by O. T. Miller (Houghton Mifflin Company). An- 
other such interesting and valuable elementary book with colored pictures 
resembling life is Our Birds and their Nestlings, by M. C. Walker (American 
Book Company). Bird Stories from Burroughs (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany) is another good book. These are small, inexpensive, very interesting 
books. 

A fuller book (price $2) rich in facts of the economic value of birds, 
treating nearly two hundred common birds, thus of great aid to a teacher, 
is Birds of Village and Field, by Florence Merriam Bailey (Houghton 
Mifflin Company). 

Farmers' Bulletin 54, U.S. Department of Agriculture, is excellent for a 
study of what birds eat, therefore whether beneficial or harmful. 

For identification pictures, the Audubon Bird Chart (Prang Company) 
is excellent. 

Outlines for insect study. This class furnishes the richest 
and most inviting field in the invertebrate group, as birds do 
in the vertebrate group. Insects are of such variety, inter- 
est, and importance that they may be partly studied in any 
grades as time will permit. A knowledge of them means so 
much for the farmer that they must be studied in agricul- 
ture. No one insect will serve as a complete introduction, 
but types should be selected from important orders. No 
detailed treatment can here be given. The following are 
important: — 

(1) Straight-winged (Orthoptera) : grasshopper, locust, cricket. 

(2) Sheath-winged (Coleoptera) : beetle, June beetle, potato 
beetle (called bugs). 

(3) Scaly-winged (Lepidoptera) : butterfly, moth. 

(4) Half -winged {Hemiptera) : bug, cicada, plant lice, squash 
bug. 

(5) Membrane-winged (Hymenoptera) : bee, wasp, ant. 

(6) Two-winged (Diptera) : fly, mosquito. 

(7) Nerve-winged (Neuroptera) : dragonfly. 

Characteristics: Insect means cut in. The body is divided how? 
How many legs? Wings? Peculiar life cycle? (Metamorphosis.) 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 287 

It Is important to know what the eggs of any common 
beetle, butterfly, or moth will hatch. Many gro^sn people, 
even farmers, do not know that maggots are young flies and 
wiggletails are young mosquitoes. Flies want decaying ani- 
mal matter and mosquitoes want standing water in which to 
breed. Where have you seen maggots and wiggletails? How 
prevent such breeding? 

The hygiene of sanitation is a related topic for full treat- 
ment. A partly glass observation hive-box with bees will 
supply an exceedingly interesting study. 

REFERENCES FOR INSECT STUDY 

A most valuable book for the teacher is Farm Friends and Foes, by C. M. 
Weed (D. C. Heath & Co.)- It studies insects, weeds, birds, mice, rats, 
rabbits, and some bacteria and fungi. A small elementary book. 

A simpler book for children is Insect Folk, by M. Morley (Ginn & Co.). 
Also The Bee People, and Wasps and their Ways, both by M. Morley. 

Other important studies. Similar studies of weeds, soils, 
plants in general, and the corn family of plants should be 
made along with the earlier years of club projects in agri- 
culture. Some of these topics may be w^ell treated in the 
school text in agriculture, but nearly all topics of the text 
will need supplementing. As in history and in geography, 
the wealth of material so near at hand should be utilized to 
vitalize the study of agriculture. 

Nearly all the elementary texts are prepared for one 
year's study. In some of the States, Manuals have been pre- 
pared, but only a few of these are for a two-years course. 

The bulletin for Wisconsin's elementary schools (1915), 
by State Superintendent C. P. Gary, covers topics for two 
years, month by month, and is fairly well planned for alter- 
nation. Such a plan will make it possible to have the study 
by subjects, as in the textbook, run through two years, 
though the teacher combines the two in one class each year 



288 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

and makes the topics fit in with, and help on, the home club 
work. For suggestion in selection of topics, the Wisconsin 
outline is here reproduced. The bulletin gives full and clear 
information on the handling of each topic, and the warning 
is well given that not all should be undertaken by every 
school. 

Topics for study, by months. Following is the list of sea- 
sonal topics which was prepared for the two upper elemen- 
tary grades of the Wisconsin schools, by the State Depart- 
ment of Public Instruction, the State College of Agriculture, 
and the United States Department of Agriculture. It is 
planned for either part to be taken first. xAdapt for any 
other State. 

Paet I, First Year 
September 

1. Seed-corn selection. 

2. Curing seed-corn. 

8. Wisconsin weeds and weed seeds. (Optional 
topics on birds and insects.) 

4. Home garden in September. 

5. Ten-ear samples of corn. 

6. Selecting the project flock of poultry. 

7. Review and management lesson. 

October 

1. The orchard survey. 

2. Soils: general acquaintance. 

3. Breeds of dairy cattle. 

4. The dairy type. 

5. The fall campaign against weeds. 

6. The production of clean milk. 

7. Review and management. 

8. Supplementary topics. 

November 

1. The poultry house. 

2. Rations for dairy cows. 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 

S. Pruning the home orchard. 

4. Dairy practice. 

5. Destroying dormant insects. 

6. ICnowing horses. 

7. Recognition of soils. 

8. Review and management. 

December 

1. The care of dairy cattle. 

2. Winter care and feeding of the laying hen. 

3. Winter care of the farm-horse. 

4. Dairy cattle: finding the boarder. 

5. Corn judging. 

6. Feeding horses. 

January 

1. The silo: prmciples; survey. 

2. Testing milk and cream. 

3. Value of pure-bred cows. 

4. Clean farm-seeds. 

5. Sanitation of home and dau-y. 

6. Corn as food. 

7. Review and management. 

February 

1. Dairy records and computations. 

2. The home garden : looking forward. 

3. The care of the foal. 

4. Natural incubation of hens' eggs. 

5. Silo construction. 

6. Summer forage and pasturage for dairy cattle. 

7. Home orchard: early spring practice. 

March 

1. Home garden plans. 

2. Selecting and marketing eggs. 

3. Testing seed-corn. 

4. The home garden under glass. 

5. The early care of chicks. 

6. Tree-planting. 

7. Spring management and review. 



2m TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

April 

1. Farm practice to utilize soil water. 

2. Preparing the garden. 
8. The care of the calf. 

4. Insuring the crop against weeds. 

5. The home fruit garden. 

6. Spring poultry management. 

7. Preparing to plant corn. 

8. Helpful birds on the farm. 

May 

1. Early cultivation of the garden. 

2. Summer orchard practice. 

3. Growing silage. 

4. Summer management of poultry. 

5. Summer practice in field and garden. 

6. Review and summer management. 

Part II, Second Year 
September 

1. Fruits and seeds. 

2. Filling the silo. 

3. Selecting "seed" potatoes. 

4. Harvesting, marketing, and storing potatoes. 

5. Soils and cover crops. 

6. The home garden and the exhibit. 

7. Beef cattle: types and breeds. 

8. The legumes in Wisconsin. 

October 

1. Preparing swine for market. 

2. Grasses for mowing and pasture. 

3. Fungus as a pest. 

4. The typical beef animal. 

5. Fall management of the home garden. 

6. Sheep for Wisconsin pupils. 

7. Review and management. 

November 

1. Poultry for market or the home. 

2. Identification of grains. 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 291 

3. Care and feeding of beef cattle. 

4. Clover on Wisconsin farms. 

5. Poultry: breeds and purposes. 

6. Grading and scoring grains. 

7. Review. 

r 

December 

1. Poultry diseases and pests. 

2. Swine survey. 

3. Crop rotation outlook. 

4. Poultry records and accounts. 

5. Beef cattle: related farm practice. 

6. Winter feeding and care of swine. 

7. Review. 

January 

1. Natural fertility of the soil. 

2. Winter management of sheep. 

3. Pure seed for forage crops. 

4. Selecting the breeding flock of poultry. 

5. Beef cattle: plans for spring practice. 

6. Insects and diseases. 

7. Review and management. 
Supplementary topic — The Potato Tuber. 

Febrvmry 

1. Germination studies: seed-testing. 

2. The perennial garden. 

3. The care and feeding of young pigs. 

4. Natural and commercial fertilizer. 

5. Improvement of home and school grounds. 

6. Pedigreed grain and other seeds. 

7. Review and management. 

March 

1. Care of young lambs. 

2. Cold-frames and hotbeds. 

3. Early care of incubator chicks. 

4. Small fruits for Wisconsin farms. 

5. Sheep and swine in the spring. 

6. Practice in conserving fertility. 

7. Potatoes : preparation and planting. 



292 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

April 

1. Preparing the home vegetable garden. 

2. The mowing and pastures in spring. 

3. Planting and transplanting in the home garden. 

4. The lawn and the flower garden. 

5. Why grow alfalfa. 

6. Review. 



May 

1. Poultry management in summer. 

2. Control of insect and fungous pests. 

3. How to grow aKalfa. 

4. Summer management of the home garden. 

5. Summer management of animals. 

6. Summer management of the potato field. 

7. Review exercises for May. 
List of optional topics. 

Supplementary topics. Local conditions may make it de- 
sirable to take up one or more of the following, or similar 
topics: — 

1. Bees and crops. 

2. Hemp-raising. 

3. Turkeys or geese. 

4. Forestry: evils of deforestation; the farm woodlot. 

5. Road-building. 

6. Drainage on the farm. 

7. Farm accounts. 

8. Ice for the dairy farm. 

9. Machine sheds and tool-houses. 

10. Cranberry management. 

11. Oranges. 

12. Peanuts. 

13. Tobacco. 

14. Sugar-cane. 

15. Beet-sugar. 

16. Cotton. 

17. Nuts. 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 293 

The general scheme of this outHne is to include each year 
a study of some farm animals and one main field crop, with 
related practice, and to carry through both years poultry 
and garden projects. The club projects of the two earher 
years may eliminate some topics from the upper years ex- 
cept as reviews. 

Good farm lessons. It should be thoroughly impressed 
that scientific farming means farming for greater profits and 
for greater pleasures. In all cases stress the differences in 
favor of thoroughbreds over scrubs in both animals and 
plants. Young people should know the varieties of chick- 
ens and the ones good for eggs, for table meat, and for 
combination of these. At some time each child should have 
charge for a season of a pen of poultry, and keep the rec- 
ords, plan the food, pick out the worthless, raise the chicks, 
etc. Different varieties in different families will make possi- 
ble a great chicken show each year, with blue and red ribbon 
awards for finest pullet, rooster, pen, hen and chicks, etc. 
And a two- weeks laying contest is positively exciting. 

In a similar way the varieties of cattle should be knowTi — 
good for milk, for butter-fat, for beef, and for combination 
purposes. We know a case where a calf from scrub cattle 
was offered for sale at $6, and a calf of the same age from 
pedigreed stock was offered for $125. The $125 caK was sold 
for that amount some time before the other could find a 
purchaser. Recall here the cases of one hundred and eighty 
to two hundred bushels of corn as over against the usual 
yield of from twelve to fifteen. The more intensive treat- 
ment yields by far the greatest returns. These are inspiring 
lessons for children, and they may transform the life of the 
country. No teacher should hesitate to enter this field of 
school work, even though the beginnings must be simple. 
The work will grow, and its teachers will live to see the fine 
results of their labors. 



294 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 



GENERAL HELPS FOR TEACHERS 

For nature study a few fundamental books will lay the foundations. 
First Studies of Plant Life, by G. F. Atkinson (Ginn & Co.) ; Lessons in 
Zoology, by J. G. Needham (American Book Company); and Nature Study, 
by F. L. Holtz (Charles Scribner's Sons) are all good. The first two are 
written somewhat on a nature-study plan, and the third has a complete 
list of other books from which to select a library. 

For beginnings in agriculture there are many elementary texts. Supple- 
menting any one of these, School and Home Gardens, by W. H. D. Meier; 
Farm Friends and Farm Foes, by C. M. Weed; and a collection of free bulle- 
tins from various sources will serve as a beginning. A Primer of Forestry, 
issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (not free), should be 
added. 

Write to the United States Department of Agriculture, and to the state 
agricultural college and the state normal schools of the home State for 
a list of bulletins for teachers. Also write to the state superintendent of 
schools of the home State for such bulletins as may have been issued. 

Every State has its summer schools and its college of agriculture, where 
short courses are given for teachers. The state summer schools for teach- 
ers usually give excellent courses in natm-e study, agriculture, and all cor- 
related subjects. The college of agriculture may also offer short courses 
for children in club projects. If representatives from each school can go to 
the short courses, then come back with full reports to other children, in- 
terested activity will be greatly stimulated. 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What are the many valuable ways in which observation and study of 
nature may contribute to the education of the child? 

2. Reconsider and weigh again your notion of education. Can agricul- 
ture and nature study be left out and yet your notion of education be 
realized? 

3. Account for the tardiness of rural teachers in using this material. 

4. Work out type studies of the mosquito, the fly, and the quail as sample 
lesson plans. 

5. Why have school gardens not been more successful? 

6. What advantages to be secured through home and club work? Should 
this be counted as school work? How may a school garden aid the 
home work? 

7. What is meant by school credits for home work? 

8. After a careful consideration of what home work is available in your 
school community, make out a list of things for credit and the cred- 
its for each under the following: a. Household arts. h. Agriculture. 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE 295 

c. Making useful and ornamental things, d. Club Contests, e. Mis- 
cellaneous. 

9. Compare the two outlines given for agriculture. First year and Sec- 
ond Year, and decide which is the better arranged and more complete. 
Can either be taught first? 

10. If you have an adopted textbook for agriculture, go through it along 
with the given outlines and check the topics in the book for use with 
the topics in the outlines. Probably the book will lend itself to alter- 
nation. 

11. Make a study with the children of material used in the community 
and their sources for the following: a. Clothing, b. Food. c. Building. 

d. Farm machinery, e. Fuel. Then study the transportation of the 
materials. Is there waste which might be prevented.'' 

12. Make definite plans for contributions of your school to the accom- 
plishment of the following: a. Agriculture remimerative and produc- 
tive. 6. Country beautiful, c. Country life comfortable, d. Community 
cooperative, e. Rural people educated and cultured. 

13. "At least in the two upper grades, one-fourth of the school time should 
be given to agriculture and home economics." Discuss. 

14. Does your county have any extension representatives, club organizers 
or demonstrators of the state agricultural college? If so, how are they 
helping you and are you working with them? 



BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Alderman R. School Credits for Home Work. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 
Davis, C. W. Rural School Agriculture. (Orange-Judd Company.) 
Heald-Cary. Course of Study in Elementary Agriculture. (Department of 
Education, Wisconsin.) 

Previously referred to in text. 

Hodge, C. F. Nature Study and Life. (Ginn & Co.) 

Miller, E. A. Elementary Vocational Agriculture. (Maryland Agricultural 
College.) 

A most excellent manual of a one year's course. 

Schmucker, S. C. The Study of Nature. (J. B. Lippincott Company.) 
Soule-Turpin. Elementary Agriculture. (B. F. Johnson Company.) 

Consult the text of this chapter and references under Special Rural 
Arithmetics for other helpful books. 



CHAPTER XVII 

PHYSIOLOGY, HYGIENE, SANITATION 

The rural school and health. Recalling again the tru- 
ism from Herbert Spencer, "Our first duty to the child is 
to make it a strong, healthy animal," we are reminded to 
add, " What profiteth a person to gain the whole world of 
learning and lose his own health?" The fundamental value 
in life is health; it is the richest wealth. In considering 
educational values, the worth of arithmetic, of history, of 
literature, of every school subject, we must assign the high- 
est value to educational hygiene. Ill-health is a great en- 
emy of happiness, and much of ill-health is preventable. 
We need less of the prevalent curative medicine of the doctor 
and more of preventive medicine. It seems that public- 
health agencies cannot be so fully utiHzed in the country as 
in the city, and we must depend more upon the immediate 
influence of the school in preparing for happy and efficient 
hfe. The rural school must give greater place to health 
education. 

In Chapter II, under the topic, "Broadening View of the 
Rural School," some demands on the modern school for the 
betterment of bodily life were pointed out. 

In Chapter IV the treatment presented as educative fac- 
tors the school-grounds, the schoolhouse, the blackboards, 
the desks, the lighting and heating, the water-supply, the 
playground and play, and the daily schedule. These all have 
a direct bearing on health, and nothing here should be 
slighted. 

In Chapter V, " Periods of Growth and Development," 
much was said of the physical characteristics and needs of 



PHYSIOLOGY, HYGIENE, SANITATION 297 

different stages of growth. Especially should backwardness 
in growth be noted and any abnormalities discovered. Back- 
wardness in mental development will emphasize the varia- 
tion of physiological age from chronological age. A physical 
record kept of each child, comparisons made with the normal 
expressed in the table, " Measurements of American Chil- 
dren," and causes of defective growth located and removed, 
constitute one of the most valuable fields of work for the 
rural teacher. A county-school health officer is needed to 
assist in this great work. 

In Chapter XVI, " Nature Study and Agriculture," some 
correlations were suggested for the teaching of physiology, 
hygiene, and sanitation, and it was intended that such in- 
struction should be continuous through the grades. In con- 
nection with "Home Economics" and "School Lunches," 
the proper foods and balanced meals are emphasized. This 
work affords a splendid opportunity for many health lessons. 

Though much has thus been given throughout this treatise 
bearing on health, probably some things further need to be 
stressed, but the brevity of this chapter must not be looked 
upon as an index to the weight we give to the subject. 

Physical conditions. To begin with, too much attention 
cannot be given by teachers to the hygiene of the lighting 
and ventilation of schoolrooms. The amount and the direc- 
tion of light should be regulated constantly and with great 
care for every child. Not too much blackboard copying 
should be given, and never with a shiny glare from the 
board. All reading and writing should be with proper light 
on the paper. 

The ventilation should keep plenty of fresh air, with 
sufficient moisture in it, in the room. Stoves and furnaces 
kiln-dry the air, and the mucous membranes using such 
air are likely to become dry, hardened, and unhealthy. Aside 
from the serious danger of developing catarrh and other 



298 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

throat and nose diseases, the breathing of such air makes 
children irritable, nervous, restless, and unstudious. These 
conditions draw upon the time of the teacher in discipline 
and in instructing children who have imperfectly assimilated 
the study lessons. This is a clear waste of time which may 
better be given to ventilating, even if fewer classes can be 
heard. Sometimes, when disorder seems to set in, the best 
thing to do will be to lay aside work for a few minutes, ven- 
tilate the room, and have the pupils stand for exercises of 
full, deep breathing. The hygiene of proper breathing and 
the care of respiratory organs should be fully impressed upon 
the pupils. Red blood is one of the things greatly to be de- 
sired at all ages and in all pursuits of life. Let youth learn 
how to get it, keep it, value it. 

What a rural school should teach. The most important 
thing to be taught is practical hygiene. Once we taught the 
structure of the body — its framework, movement, and ac- 
tivities, with the names of its different parts. While the 
teaching of these subjects may be made means for the 
imparting of health instructions, they are after all of but 
small use to elementary-school pupils. These anatomical and 
physiological features are only incidental to the much more 
important instruction in how to care for and preserve the 
body and bodily health. Any text used should be selected 
with especial reference to its bearings on hygiene and sani- 
tation. If any book is used below the two upper grades, 
it should be one which treats directly the care and value of 
health. If time permits, it is better to make the instruc- 
tion oral in the lower grades, then select for use with the 
two upper grades some text chosen for its interesting treat- 
ment as well as for its scientific instruction. 

All studies recently made of rural health conditions have 
shown, quite conclusively, that conditions among rural 
children are not nearly so good as among city children, and 




Fig. 16. Health Defects in City and Coltntry Children 
compared 

Compiled from a study of the health examinations of children in twenty-five American 
cities and of rural-school children in five American States. Only in pcdiculosia (head lice) 
and in skin diseases do the city children show greater percentage of defects. 



300 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from these studies is 
that the rural school should give more attention to instruc- 
tion in the care of the body. The care of the eyes, ears, nose, 
and throat, offers a field for useful instruction. How and 
what to eat and drink (digestion), how to care for cuts and 
bruises, the intelligent care of the nervous system, proper 
exercise, how to breath properly, proper clothing to wear, 
proper carriage and posture, the care of the teeth, bathing 
and cleanliness, and sleep, are all important topics for talks 
and careful instruction. How and what to eat and drink 
offers excellent opportunities for instruction in connection 
with the work in domestic science. What constitutes sani- 
tary conditions at school and at home also offers a large field 
for discussion, pupil investigation, and useful instruction. 

The hygiene of posture is one a teacher should study care- 
fully and then study the pupils accordingly. Flat chests, 
irregular shoulders, curved spines, bad breathing and circu- 
lation, all may be produced by careless postures. Postures 
in writing, studying, reciting, and standing should be con- 
stantly watched. This should not lead to nagging, but 
cheery reminders are priceless friends. Models should be 
explained, and defects pointed out in individuals. Pupils 
must be led to admire those of erect, graceful posture and 
gait, and this admiration will strengthen motive to become 
likewise. 

The hygiene of the eyes and teeth are improperly under- 
stood and valued by rural children. Reading by a poor light 
is common, and the use of eyeglasses is not. The tooth brush 
is too rare, and many children never see a dentist except to 
have a tooth pulled. Yet indigestion, nervousness, poor 
blood, poison in the system (auto-intoxication), and even 
rheumatism may be the result of bad teeth. Cavities lodge 
decayed food to breed bacteria, and absorption of pus from 
an abscess will poison the system. 



PHYSIOLOGY, HYGIENE, SANITATION 301 

The importance of cleanliness should be emphasized. To 
make this instruction as practical as possible some arrange- 
ments should be made for bathing of hands and face after 
play periods. Liquid soap is not expensive, neither is a 
patent holder from which to get it. The towel problem is 
greater, but rolls of paper towels are the best for use, and 
these should be willingly furnished as are other school sup- 
plies. A call to clean up should be given a little time in 
advance of the call to books, and always before eating the 
school lunch. 

Child hygiene important. The hygiene of the school child 
should be a first and most conscientiously thorough study 
made by every teacher. Abnormalities of bodily or mental 
development, defects of the special organs of sense, disor- 
ders of these and of the nervous and digestive systems, and 
symptoms of the common infectious or contagious diseases 
are matters for constant observation on the part of the 
teacher, v/ho must therefore become intelligent concerning 
all such. To become such the teacher should read carefully 
some good book on Child Hygiene,^ and to become sensi- 
tive to conditions actually existing in the school the teacher 
should quietly make a health survey of her school. 

The health survey. This need not be hurriedly made, but 
may run through a month or two. Items first recorded may 
be the age, height standing, height sitting, weight, and 
grade of the children of the school. Some questions may be 
answered by the children, and a list of questions may be 
answered with the help of parents, the answers being made 
a part of the teacher's record. Some suggestive questions 
are the following : — 

^ The Hygiene of the School Child, by Professor L. M. Terman (Houghton 
Mifflin Company, Boston), is probably the best book for the teacher to 
read. It covers the field thoroughly, and is written in a simple and read- 
able style. 



302 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

Do you sometimes have toothache? When have you been to a 
dentist? Do you brush your teeth regularly? Have you ever had 
teeth filled? 

How do your eyes trouble you? Do you have trouble reading 
from the blackboard? Does print blur or show double? Have you 
ever had your eyes tested? Do you have headache? 

The teacher should note the appearance of the eyes, clear or 
irritated, and use Snellen's Test, entering the results in each 
record. 

Do you sometimes have earache? Do your ears ever run? Do 
you hear well in school? Is it hard to breathe through your nose? 
Do you breathe with mouth open? Snore at night? Have sore 
throat often? Catch cold often? 

The watch-tick and tapping tests of hearing can easily be made 
and these results recorded. 

Do you have sore throat or colds often (two or three times a 
month)? Have you ever had adenoids or tonsils removed? 

Do you tire easily? What work do you do outside of school 
hours? When do you eat breakfast? What do you generally eat 
for breakfast? How much coffee or tea do you drink? Have 
you ever had any serious sickness? When did you have sickness? 
(Especially note here the common diseases of children, measles, 
etc.) 

The chart on the opposite page shows the results of such a 
questionnaire applied to approximately 20,000 school children in 
one of our better American cities. This may form an interesting 
basis for comparison with a rural school, or county. 

The teacher^s records. The teacher should have a 
special notebook for summaries of these records, a page or 
two given to each child, and observations of the teacher 
added to the information from the child. The teacher should 
observe general appearance, nervous tendencies, and suffi- 
cient or insufficient clothing. Mental conditions must also 
be observed. Compare the chronological age with apparent 
physiological age, shown by advancement in studies as 
well as in size. Is the child backward.'^ Is he mentally 
alert, bright, attentive, answering questions promptly .^^ 
Does he play spontaneously, and with children of his ow^n 



PHYSIOLOGY, HYGIENE, SANITATION 



303 




Have headache often 

Have earache often 

Effective hearing 

Defective vision 

Sore throat often > 

Obstructed breathing 

Bad condition of mouth 

Have nevej" been to a , 

dentist 

Do not have a tooth brush 

Do not use tooth brush 
regulary 

Frequently ill I 

Not mentally alert 
Mentally peculiar 
Do not breakfast regularly 
Sometimes miss lunch 
Stutter or stammer 



Fig. 17. Showing some Health Conditions among the School- 
Children OF Salt Lake City 

(From the Re-port of the School Survey, 1915.) 

age? Is he timid? Ill at ease? Sulky? Cruel to others? 
Selfish? 

Something of all this, in an abbreviated summary of items, 
should be a matter of report from one teacher to the next, as 
much so as attendance and scholarship grading. This is more 
worth while. Much of it may be for the benefit of the teacher 
making the survey. It will make her better acquainted ^\ath 
her pupils and far more helpful in directing their lives. And 
when any definite trouble seems to be located, — adenoids, 
eye-strain, deafness, bad teeth, or the like, — the school 



S04 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

health officer or the parent should be consulted. Very- 
cautious must be the advice about sufficient clothing and 
proper food, yet sometimes direct advice needs to be given, 
at other times general instruction will be sufficient. 

Pupil sanitary surveys. Older pupils in home economics 
and agriculture may make sanitary surveys of the neighbor- 
hood as to home surroimdings, drainage, slops, dairy hygiene, 
proximity of stable or pig pen, flies, mosquitos, etc. Some 
reports of these may be read as a feature in a special 
school program with parents invited, or better be made a 
topic of discussion in mothers' meetings. In any event, the 
making of the survey and its significance pointed out will do 
good merely as a school exercise. 

This work may be enlarged by readings and talks as to 
sanitary work in our cities, the cleaning-up of Cuba and 
Porto Rico, the sanitary conditions in the Canal Zone, 
preventable mortality from common diseases, "Safety 
First," etc. Much help on these topics can be obtained from 
the numerous Health Readers and similar books now on 
the market. 

Mental hygiene. This phase of hygiene has not as yet come 
to its own. Habits of attention, alertness, interest in envir- 
onment, association of ideas, and other intellectual habits 
or traits do receive some attention. But the emotional life 
is fundamental and all important in its relations to health 
and happiness. Emotional states have a reflex influence on 
bodily health. Many secretions are influenced by the mental 
states. The injurious mental states are those of anger, fear, 
jealousy, moroseness, constant distrust of others, grief, etc. 
These stimulate poisonous secretions injurious to the bodily 
health, as well as serve as active agents of unhappiness. On 
the other hand, joy, hope, trust, sympathy, good will, good 
cheer, looking on the bright side, and counting blessings 
rather than evil fortunes, are mental states conducive to 



PHYSIOLOGY, HYGIENE, SANITATION 305 

bodily health as well as to happiness and moral character. 
It is the duty of the school to assist in building these proper 
mental habits and in teaching their values. Good play, in- 
teresting school work, and manual activities all help in the 
right direction. 

Building permanent interests in nature, literature, art, 
recreation, vocation, and service for others is a great factor 
in mental hygiene. School credits for home duties as well as 
for home work have been used to good effect. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. A paradox from Rousseau is, "We gain time by losing it." Wherein 
is this applicable to time given to schoolroom ventilation and to health 
surveys of the children? 

2. Make a list (a) of the most apparent symptoms of common transmis- 
sible diseases of children; (6) of common nervous disorders; (c) of causes 
of backwardness in children. 

3. Account for the bad health showing of rural children. Indicate reme- 
dies. 

4. In what ways may a teacher tactfully influence for better the home 
hygiene of children? 

5. What advantage in mental hygiene may exercise through play have 
over calisthenics? What can best be accomplished through formal exer- 
cise? 

6. What effect in mental hygiene if the teacher is a person who is sympa- 
thetic, optimistic, joyous, cheery, and tactful? What effect if the oppo- 
site? Can habitual attitudes of mind be changed for the better? 

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Allen, W. H. Civics and Health. (Ginn & Co.) 

Dresslar, F. B. School Hygiene. (The Macmillan Company.) 

Gulick, Luther. Gulick Hygiene Series. (Ginn & Co.) 

Hutchinson, Woods. Health Series. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 

Hutchinson, Woods. Preventable Diseases. (Houghton Mifflin Company.) 

Rapeer, L. W. Educational Hygiene. (Charles Scribner's Sons.) 

Ritchie-Caldwell. Physiology-Hygiene-Sanitation Primers. (World Book 

Company.) 
Tanner, Amy E. The Child. (Rand, McNally & Co.) 
Terman, L. M. The Hygiene of the School Child. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 



CHAPTER XVIII 

ARTS AND CRAFTS 

Three types of work are possible in rural schools, even 
with very meager equipment. Home economics work in 
some form can be carried on through cooperation with the 
homes, even though very little of the practical work is done 
in the schools. The sewing can be done in the ordinary seats. 
For the manual arts work, a bench can be erected in some 
part of the schoolroom, or in an outer shed. We shall de- 
scribe briefly some types of work which may be done in 
rural schools, in (1) "Home Economics," including needle- 
work, and (2) " Manual Arts." 

I. Home Economics 

Home Economics is considered mainly a subject for girls, 
yet boys often enter into such projects as bread- or cake- 
making, canning, and house-planning. Boys should not be 
excluded if circumstances are favorable. However, in rural 
schools, where time and equipment are matters of such 
close economy, boys may be occupied with handicrafts with 
saw, hammer, and forge, while the girls go in for cooking, 
sewing, artistic basketry, and pottery. The greatest prob- 
lems of home plans and sanitation are for both sexes. 

Club and home work. Where there is no extra school- 
room or equipment for domestic science, the teacher should 
organize at least the two upper grades of girls into a Home 
Economics Club. One year may be given to cooking, and the 
other year to sewing and basketry, or these may be carried 
on together. The latter is the better plan. If the tomato and 



ARTS AND CRAFTS S07 

canning club has been in operation, this has made a begin- 
ning. The canning of other fruits, berries, and garden 
vegetables, and also the making of jellies are related activi- 
ties for this club. Tomatoes are not often as profitable for 
girls as corn or potatoes are for boys, but the canned article 
raises the profit. Why not a small cannery for making more 
money than through peddling the raw articles, especially 
by way of realizing on the overplus of a bountiful crop.^ 
The teacher may discuss general topics and special recipes 
or designs, and the pupils are to complete the lessons at 
home, reporting the results. Even where there is a good 
school equipment, home work is necessary. Often zest mil 
be added to the work if it is under the auspices of a club or- 
ganized at school and given some liberties in choosing and 
directing its doings. 

1. Cookery 

Some general topics for study and club discussion: 

1. The different kinds of foods; their sources and food 
values. The needs of the human body for health. Well- 
balanced food rations. (If the latter is so important for do- 
mestic animals, why not more so for man?) 

2. Reasons for cooking. Different methods of cooking, 
and the methods for each article of food. Leavening and 
seasoning. 

3. Fuels and implements in cooking. The fireless cooker. A 
model kitchen; its location, plan, utensils, places for utensils. 

4. Planning a meal. Some special menus to illustrate 
well-balanced menus, variety, and attractiveness. 

5. Serving a meal. Rules for setting the table and serving 
the meal. Value of good serving. Faults of serving in rural 
homes. Furnishings for the dining-room. Value of tasty, 
attractive surroundings. 



308 TEACHING IN RURAL SCEOOLS 

Special recipes and menus. If the teacher does not feel 
competent to demonstrate and to direct all phases of cook- 
ing, she can, at least, vdih some book such as Foods and their 
Uses, by Carpenter, discuss foods in a helpful way; then, 
with recipe books, she can start the children on many things 
to be carried out at home, the whole to be treated as school 
lessons. This means a report on the home work in the 
making of breads and all such, mth competition for the best 
loaf of white bread from the recipe selected, the best brown 
bread, nut bread, soda biscuits, beaten biscuits, etc. Corn 
breads and batter cakes cannot so well be exhibited, but they 
should be included in the menus and tried out at home. 
Causes of failures should be sought out, and "try again" 
encouraged. 

In the fall, preserving fruits and making jellies, fruit 
butters, etc., are timely activities. If any in the community 
has a special reputation for excelling in any one thing, get 
the recipe for the children to try out. Some neighbor will 
excel in one thing, another in something else. Enlist the aid 
of the mothers and older sisters in this way. 

Recipes for different ways of cooking and serving apples; 
similarly other fruits and berries should be tried out. 

Treat various meats, eggs, and vegetables similarly. 
Menus for desserts are important for full consideration. 

The planning of menus should be well discussed. Rural 
people are great on plenty, but too often the profusion has 
no consideration of balance or dainty service. Both balance 
and service are points the teacher may talk with authority, 
even though she cannot boil a ham or make a cherry pie. 

Have pupils make suggestive menus for each meal of a 
week in summer, and another for a week in winter. Have 
these brought up and discussed. What should be the 
menus for children in school? 

Dishwashing. Stress the importance of this being thor- 



ARTS AND CRAFTS 309 

oughly and carefully done, and everything put away in 
regular order. Stress also the especial care needed with milk 
vessels, the sanitary disposal of slops, and cleanliness, sanita- 
tion, and orderliness at all times. 

School lunches. As a matter of hygiene and efficiency, 
school children should have something hot with their noon- 
day meals, especially in cold weather. Cold lunches day 
after day are not beneJScial to the health of growing children. 
Many city schools have established regular lunch-counters 
and dining-rooms where, for a few cents, each child may 
secure the whole meal at school. 

The movement for hot lunches for rural children does not 
go so far. Children bring their lunches as before, except that 
all are to assist in some way, that something hot may be 
served. Hot soup, hot chocolate, hot potatoes or apples are 
illustrations. The preparation of the hot article for lunch 
will give the older children an opportunity to do some sim- 
ple cooking and serving. This hot dish will increase the nu- 
tritive value of the lunch, furnish opportunity and motive 
for the lesson in preparation of foods, and serve to make the 
meal for all more companionable and homelike. 

A small equipment would be necessary, yet it need not be 
expensive. A two-burner oil stove and an oven therefor; 
one eight-quart granite kettle, one pan or skillet, one three- 
or four-pint mixing-bowl, one small bowl, one twelve-quart 
dishpan, mixing-spoon, tablespoon, teaspoon, graduated 
cup, kitchen knife and fork, paring-knife, apple-parer, and a 
Dover egg-beater will be enough to do much with. This list 
may be modified to suit the needs. The whole will cost only 
about ten dollars. The older boys, vnih the help of the girls, 
can make, out of dry-goods boxes, the cupboard of shelves to 
hold the equipment and supplies. 

Supplies. Each child should supply his individual outfit, 
— a cup, saucer, plate, fork, and spoon. Paper napkins will 



SIO TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

add to the value of the service. Each child should have a 
napkin to spread on his desk and another for private use. 

Nearly all the supplies can be brought from home. Prob- 
ably a few families should take turns in supplying milk, 
though it may be practicable and sanitary to have each child 
bring a regulation bottle of milk such as the typical dairies 
now use. There may be home conditions such that some chil- 
dren can bring only certain vegetables, eggs, or special 
supplies. A little management on the part of the teacher 
will regulate this. Plans must be made and the dishes se- 
lected a few days ahead. If apples or potatoes are needed, 
each child can bring one. Also each one can bring sugar, salt, 
flour, etc., as requested. All of this will not be burdensome 
on any, and will soon come to be a genuine pleasure. 

Conduct of the work. A committee of housekeepers should 
be appointed each week, as small a committee as practica- 
ble. This committee is to prepare, serve, and put away the 
dishes. Other helpers may be named to assist in serving or 
in washing dishes. The committee should begin the prepara- 
tion in due time according to the dish to be served. The com- 
mittee may help choose the dishes, the teacher keeping an 
eye to proper sequence. 

The most convenient and suitable dishes are cocoa and 
nourishing soups, such as cream of tomato, cream of peas, rice 
gruel, vegetable (gumbo), and meat broths. Other dishes are 
baked potatoes, baked apples, apple tapioca pudding, steamed 
custard, baked custard, milk and bread, creamed eggs, scram- 
bled eggs, macaroni with tomato sauce. Most of these may 
be quickly prepared, and experience will extend the list. 

It will be necessary to have the cooperation of the parents. 
If it is new to them, a meeting of mothers should be called in 
the fall, before the cold weather, the scheme explained to 
them, and their cooperation secured to get the equipment 
and to furnish daily supplies. 



ARTS AND CRAFTS 311 

If nothing more can be done, much will be accomplished 
if in the fall the canning club takes care of fruits and jellies 
for home cupboards ; in the winter, practice making breads, 
pies, cakes, and school lunches; and in the spring, preserve, 
can, and jelly the strawberries, cherries, etc. Results ex- 
hibited at the school fair will stir enthusiasm for greater 
things. The study of the process of digestion and the hy- 
giene of eating and drinking should be correlated. 

2. Needlecraft 

Sewing and care of clothes. The Home Economics Club 
should take up sewing activities also. This is easy to do, 
because it requires no elaborate equipment and can also be 
carried on at home. Patterns and materials may be dis- 
cussed at school, the work to be done mostly at home, 
though odd hours at school may be used for handwork. One 
of the first things needed w^U be a workbag. Have a dis- 
cussion of the pattern and the stitches used in making, then 
have each girl make a gingham one by hand. In a similar 
way make a sewing apron, with suitable pockets. 

Make a model, showing how to mend a tear or adjust a 
patch. Have them bring torn garments and stockings in 
need of darning from home and show them how to mend 
them. Discuss the different kinds of cloths and the sources 
of materials. As Christmas approaches, interest them in 
making Christmas presents, dainty handkerchiefs, aprons, 
scarfs, workbags, traveling-cases, etc. Simple embroidery 
will come in here. 

Talk with them about the care of garments, pressing, 
ironing, folding, hanging, etc.; also the textiles, weaves, 
qualities of cloth, etc., to help them select intelligently when 
shopping. 

Some directions for using the sewing machine should be 



312 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

given, then one by one patterns considered for the making 
of garments, each girl to make one according to the pattern. 

Neatness and taste. Soon the idea of neatness, style, deli- 
cacy in combination of colors, and all with simplicity and 
small expense, will make interesting topics. Especially may 
this be the case with the dainty materials for summer and 
fall dresses, nightdresses, and underwear. 

Taste in the trimming of hats is a valuable topic. The 
proper combinations of color in hats, ribbons, and clothes is 
something many women do not understand, hence they dress 
unbecomingly, often at great expense, when simplicity with 
taste would have added much to the desired effects. A 
teacher who cannot give regular lessons in all phases of sew- 
ing can often give valuable lessons in good taste, simple pat- 
terns, economical materials, yet very stylish effects. Loud 
and flashy patterns and colors generally bespeak a lack of 
true gentility. The opposite is often the more becoming and 
the more genteel. 

II. The Manual Aets 

Early grade work. As previously indicated, these should 
correlate with other work of the school and home. At first 
there is the cutting, coloring, cardboard construction, draw- 
ing, and modeling of the primary grades. Early in the grades 
the children can learn the handling of raffia to make sim- 
ple mats and baskets. Later the use of raffia, rattan, pine 
needles, native grasses, etc., should be for making baskets, 
trays, boxes, and many articles of artistic designs as well as 
of useful qualities. Some beautiful effects may be had with 
native materials. 

Woodwork. In the woodwork, so far as possible, things 
useful at home or school should be made. Much of this will 
be directly correlated with other school work. 



ARTS AND CRAFTS 313 

With bird study there should be the making and putting 
up of bird houses. Rustic bird houses are the best, each one 
built with an eye to the habits of certain birds. There is an 
art in building to attract the birds. 

With fly study should come the making of flytraps. The 
simple homemade ones are inexpensive and generaUy best. 
These should be around the house and the chicken house, 
generally outside to catch the flies before they enter the 
house. 

Simple work may begin with plain boxes for corn testing, 
grain sprouting, starting tomato plants, flowers, etc. In this 
there should be attention given to the different kinds of 
joints and the use of proper nails and screws. 

Care of tools. Then some talks should be given on tools, 
their use and care. The saw, hammer, plane, chisel, square, 
T-square, compass, brace with bits, and measuring rule are 
the essentials. Each boy should be provided at home with a 
small set of tools. If there is a good carpenter convenient, 
get him to come to the school to talk to the boys about the 
care of tools, showing them how to set and sharpen the saw, 
sharpen edged tools, and the proper use of each tool. 

Working drawings. It is valuable early in this work for 
the boys to learn to interpret and use working models drawn 
to scale. Some working drawings of simple things to make 
should be given them, to construct the article in accordance 
with the drawing. Each boy should then be given practice 
in making a working drawing for approval before he makes 
the article. Drawings for a ladder, rabbit trap, dog house, 
or chicken coop will illustrate the principle, and teach the 
boys how to read a working drawing. Composition work 
may be correlated by having the boys write up a set of 
working specifications to accompany the drawings. 

Projects. Some projects suggested for construction are 
the following: bracket shelf; milking-stool; chicken coop; 



314 TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

sawhorse; weather-vane; tool chest; sled; ladder; medicine 
cabinet; hammer-handle; axe-handle; hoe-handle; rabbit- 
trap; rat-trap; chicken-brooder; insect-cage; bee house; 
gate; summer house with vine and flower trellises; chicken 
house; school play-shed; stepladder; workbench. 

Some time should be given to talks on finishing, scraping, 
sandpapering, staining, and painting. 

Good work can also be given in cement work, and work 
with leather. How to mix cement, and its uses about the 
farm form one good topic; how to mend shoes and harness 
another. Very simple equipment only is needed for this work, 
and it is not only very interesting and educative but very 
useful knowledge as well. 

How to handle the work if there is no special room for it. 
If a special room with equipment can be had at school, the 
projects should be set for regular hours in each week for 
each boy of the two upper elementary grades, just as for any 
other lessons, and good results required. Without this, there 
is the Handicrafts Club for home project work. For all this 
home project work, full report should be made to the teacher, 
and credit given as for regular school work. Pupils may 
count time used in this work, and when the group has ob- 
tained sufficient credits for this out-of-time work, a half 
holiday may be enjoyed. Exhibits should be made at the 
school fair. 

This work must be looked upon as essentially educative. 
It is not alone for the practical things made, and the practi- 
cal value of all such work to one who is to live his or her life 
on the farm, but it is also for the development of brain cen- 
ters through a correlation of hand and mind activities. It is 
in hne with true racial development, and deserves place in 
the school along with the book work of the old order. 



ARTS AND CRAFTS 315 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. The leading difficulties in the way of introducing arts and crafts and 
agriculture in rural schools are these: (a) Time in the schedule; (6) room 
and equipment; (c) preparation of teachers. Discuss the removal of 
these difficulties. 

2. Mothers may feel a superiority and may ridicule the idea of the young 
teacher teaching these things. How enlist the sympathies of the home 
folks.? 

3. This other prejudice must often be overcome: "Girls will naturally 
learn home practices at home." How meet this.' Wherein is this preju- 
dice akin to the notions that boys get sufficient exercise in farm occupa- 
tions and that they naturally learn farming at home, hence school 
training here is useless? 

4. How are school fairs helping us over these difficulties? How have the 
clubs aided? 



BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

Alderman, L. R. School Credit for Home Work. (Houghton Mifflin Com- 
pany.) 
Carpenter, L. D. Foods and their Uses. (Charles Scribner's Sons.) 
Dobbs, Ella V. Primary Handwork. (The Macmillan Company.) 
Hapgood, Olive C. School Needle Work. (Ginn & Co.) 
Newell, C. E. Constructive Work for Schools loithout Special Equipment. 

(Milton Bradley Company.) 
Patton, Frances. Home and School Sevnng. (Newson & Co.) 
Pickard, A. E. Rural Education. (Webb Publishing Company.) 
Richards, E. H. Handbook of Domestic Science and Household Arts for 

Elementary Schools. (The Macmillan Company.) 
Sargent, W. Fine and Industrial Arts in Elementary Schools. (Ginn & Co.) 
The Delineator t for patterns. (Butterick Publishing Company.) 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 

A LIST OF TWENTY GOOD BOOKS FOR 
RURAL-SCHOOL TEACHERS 

The author is often asked what are good books for a rural-school 
teacher to buy, and he herewith submits a short list of what might 
be considered as fundamental tools for a rural-school teacher. In 
compiling this list no attempt has been made to go into the field of 
special methods, but only to provide a list of a few of the most 
helpful general books. While some books on the list might be 
omitted and other books substituted by others, it is still felt that 
the list is one which rural-school teachers would do well to follow 
in their buying. 

1. Alderman, L. R. School Credit for Home Work. 181 pp. $1.00. 
(Houghton Miflflin Company, Boston, 1915.) 

Describes work done in Oregon, and how to handle such credits. 

2. Bagley, W. C. Classroom Management. 322 pp. $1.25. (The Mac- 
millan Company, New York, 1909.) 

A very helpful book on the details of organization and control. 

S. Belts, G. H. The Recitation. 118 pp. Price 70 cents. (Houghton 
Mifflin Company, Boston, 1911.) 

A helpful little monograph on the recitation, questioning, and the assignment of 
lessons. 

4. Carney, Mabel. Country Life and the Country School. 405 pp. $1.25. 
(Row, Peterson & Co., Chicago, 1913.) 

A very practical treatise on the rural-school problem. 

5. Charters, W. W. Teaching the Common Branches. 347 pp. $1.35. 
(Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1913.) 

A helpful book for inexperienced teachers on the principles involved in the teach- 
ing of the common-school subjects. 

6. Cubberley, E. P. Rural Life and Education. 367 pp. $1.50. (Houghton 
Mifflin Company, Boston, 1914.) 

A consideration of the rural-school problem as a phase of the much larger rural- 
life problem. Good historical introduction, with good presentation of the present 
problem, and how to solve it. 



320 APPENDIX 

7. Dresslar, F. B. Rural Schoolhouses and Grounds. 162 pp. 43 plates. 
50 cents. (Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1914. 
Issued as Bulletin No. 12, 1914, U.S. Bureau of Education.) 

A good general treatment of the planning, location, sanitation, and arrangements 
of rural schoolhouses. 

8. Earhart, Lida B. Teaching Children to Study. 182 pp. 70 cents. 
(Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1909.) 

A very simple and sensible discussion as to how to teach children to study logi- 
cally. 

9. Field, Jessie. The Corn Lady. 107 pp. 50 cents. (A. Flanagan Com- 
pany, Chicago, 1911.) 

A series of letters from a country teacher to her father, describing her work in 
transforming a rural school. Should be read by every rural teacher. The Appendix 
contains some very good farm-arithmetic problems. 

10. Freeman, F. N. The Psychology of the Common Branches. 275 pp. 
$1.35. (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1916.) 

A very capable discussion of the psycholo^cal principles underlying good instruc- 
tion in each of the common-school branches. 

11. Hart, J. K. Educational Resources of Village and Rural Communities. 
277 pp. $1.00. (The Macmillan Company, New York, 1913.) 

A collection of sixteen essays, by different authors, on different phases of the rural- 
life problem. 

12. Kendall, C. N., and Mirick, G. A. How to Teach the Fundamental 
Subjects. 329 pp. $1.25. (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1915.) 

A very good presentation of methods of handling the common-school branches, 
based on the best methods in use in city school systems. 

13. McKeever, W. A. Farm Boys and Girls. 326 pp. $1.25. (The Mac- 
millan Company, New York, 1912.) 

A good book on rural home life, and the life interests of young people. 

14. McMurry, Frank. How to Study and Teaching How to Study. 324 pp. 
$1.25. (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1909.) 

A simple analysis of the principal factors in studying, and how to train children in 
the art. 

15. Perry, A. C, Jr. Discipline as a School Problem. 273 pp. $1.35. 
(Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1915.) 

Analyzes discipline as an individual, class, and school problem. 

16. Smith, W. R. Introduction to Educational Sociology. 412 pp. $1.75. 
(Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1917.) 

A study of the organization of society, as this relates to school work. 

17. Terman, L. M. The Hygiene of the School Child. 417 pp. $1.65. 
(Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1914.) 

An excellent treatise on the hygiene of physical and mental growth, and one that 
will be of much help to the teacher. 



APPENDIX 321 

18. Terman, L. M. The Teacher's Health. 137 pp. 70 cents. (Houghton 
Mifflin Company, Boston, 1913.) 

A very helpful and suggestive study of the hygiene of an occupation. 

19. Wilson, H. B. and G. M. The Motivation of School Work. 265 pp. 
$1.35. (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1916.) 

The place of motivation in school work, and the motivation of work in the sub- 
jects of the elementary school. 

20. Wray, Angelina. Jean Mitchells School. $1.00. (Public School 
Publishing Company, Bloomington, 111., 1902.) 

A charming story of a country teacher's experience, and of a kind which young 
teachers could read with profit. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Activities of living, Spencer, 10. 

Adolescence, 68. 

iEsthetic life, the, 13. 

Age, chronological, physiological, 71. 

Agriculture, 263, 277; values of, 263; 
racial evolution parallel, 265; ele- 
mentary nature study, 267; teach- 
ers of, 277; school gardens, 278; 
clubs, boys' and girls', 279; project 
method, 282; nature outlines, ad- 
vanced, 283; month by month top- 
ics, 288; good farm lessons, 294(. 

Alternation of classes, 50. 

Apperception, nature of, 82. 

Applications for teachers, 83. 

Appreciation of rural life, 28; of liter- 
ature, 52; of pictures, 177, 181; 
of nature, 264. 

Arithmetic, 250; eliminations of 
waste, 251; fundamentals in in- 
struction, 252; primary method 
systems, 253; rural arithmetic, 
256-57, 262; plan of course, 257. 

Art-Literature Readers, 96. 

Arts and Crafts, 306. 

Ayres Spelling Scale, 190-91. 

Back to the country, 10. 

Before opening day, 45. 

Blackboards, 41. 

Bodily life, the, 12. 

Broadening view of rural school, 11. 

Gary, C. P., 287. 
Character, 29. _ 
Changing conditions in the home, 4; 

in the country, 4; in the rural 

school, 6. 
Child, the, periods of growth, 65; 

individual differences, 72, 77; 

original capital of, 74; interests, 

78. 
Clapp, F. L., 26. 



Community organization, 59; char- 
acteristics, 62. 

Consolidated school, the, 17; prog- 
ress of, 18; Ohio standard of, 21. 

Cook, W. A., cited, 26. 

Cubberley, E. P., 8, 17, 19, 318. 

Deskwork, 98-100. 

Desks, 43. 

Dewey, John, 24, 80, 85. 

Discipline, importance of, 105; pur- 
pose of, 105-06; measures, con- 
structive, 113; preventive. 111; 
corrective, 122. 

Early American Schools, 3. 
English Language, the, 163. 

Freeman, F. N., 203. 

Fundamental studies, selection and 
arrangement of, 135; first six 
years, 135; upper grades, 136. 

Geography, 231 ; old and new types, 
231; some values of, 233; story 
approach, 234; nature approach, 
235; globe lessons, 238; type stud- 
ies, 241; map making, 244; im- 
aginary journeys, 246; use of pic- 
tures, 246. 

Grammar, 181; some values, 181; 
where to be taught, 182; method 
suggestion, 184; diagramming, 
184. 

Hall, G. Stanley, quoted, 68. 

Hanifan, L. J., 60. 

Heating, 39. 

Herbart, J. T., cited, 79. 

History, 211; the point of view, 211; 
fact history vs. human history, 212; 
summary of purpose, 213; early 
beginnings, 213; historical stories. 



INDEX 



214; story treatment, 220; biog- 
raphy, value of, s219; the book 
phase, 221; topical method, 222; 
dates, reviews, 224; important 
results, 226. 

Home economics, 306-; club and home 
work, 306; club study topics, 307; 
cookery, 307; recipes, menus, 308; 
school lunches, 309; conducting 
the work, 310; needlecraft, 311". 

Hygiene, 296. 

Incentives, 117. 

Infancy and childhood, 65. 

Instincts, definitions of, 75; develop- 
ment of, 76; variations of, 77. 

Interests, nature of, 78; Herbart's 
classification, 79; Dewey's classi- 
fication, 80; how to develop, 80; 
relation to drill, 81. 

Kendall-Mirick, 147, 156, 202, 230. 

Language lessons, 163; qualities to 
ciStivate, 163; first steps, 164; 
formal lessons, 165; written work, 
166; compositions, 168; use of 
stories, 172; picture lessons, 177; 
method suggestions, 178. 

Latin grammar schools, 3. 

Library, the school, 158. 

Lightmg. 38. 

McMurray, Chas., 85, 162, 241. 
Manual arts, 312; projects in, 313; 

how to handle, 314. 
Measurements of children, 74. 
Missouri score card, 22-24. 
Moral training, 16, 119. 

Nature study, 263; racial evolution, 
265; parallels in nature study, 266; 
methods in, 267; correlations, 269; 
material for grades, 270; outline 
studies, 273; advanced studies, 



Ohio standards, 21. 

One teacher school, the, 19. 

Organization, of the plant, 45; of 



school work, 48; of recreation, 54; 
of the community, 57; preliminary, 
45^8. 

Palmer method, the, 201. 

Page, David P., 35. 

Payne, W. H., 25. 

Penmanship, 199; qualities of, 199; 
teaching faults, 200; fundamentals 
in teaching, 203; method sugges- 
tions, 203; writing scales, 206-08. 

Perkins, Mrs. Lucy F., 230, 248. 

Physiology, 296; rural health, 12, 
296-99; what to teach, 298; child 
hygiene, 301; health surveys, 301; 
sanitary surveys, 304; teachers' 
records, 302; mental hygiene, 304. 

Plan of lessons, 102. 

Play, value of, 54; supervision of, 
54; grouping pupils for, 55; appa- 
ratus and books, 57, 

Preliminary organization, 46. 

Program, suggestive, 53. 

Punishment, 122. 

Reading, importance of, 137; begin- 
ning methods, 138; supplemental, 
140; first lessons, 141; second 
grade, 149; third grade, 151; upper 
grades, 152; oral readmg, 154; 
the library, 158. 

Recitation, the, 86; in rural schools, 
86; varieties of, 87; steps of, 90; 
aims, 88-95. 

Recreation, organizing, 54. 

Redirection, rural schools, 6. 

Rousseau, J. J., cited, 65. 

Rural life problem, 4; enrichment of, 
5; needs of, 12-17. 

Rural school, changes in, 6; rare op- 
portunity of, 10; broadening view 
of, 11; type of, 17; standards, 20- 
24; the teacher, 25; the plant, 36- 
44; reorganization of, 6-49. 

Salaries, 34-35. 
Sanitation, 296, 304. 
School events, 59. 
School habits, 113. 
Schoolhouses, 37-42. ■, 



INDEX 



327 



School spirit, 115. 

School faults, 164. 

Seating pupils, 47. 

Shawkey, M. P., 60. 

Special days, 60. 

Spelling, a tool subject, 187; needed 
reforms. 188; selection of words, 
188; Ayres's Scale, 190-91 ; one hun- 
dred demons, 190; method of study, 
192; better teaching of, 193; dic- 
tionary work, 193; simplified, 196. 

Standard schools, 20-24. 



Teacher equipment, 26-31. 
Teacher-qualities, 27. 
Teacher's preparation, 30-34. 
Teaching to study, 96-98. 
Terman, L. M., 71, 85, 320-21. 

Ventilation, 39. 

Wade, Alexander, L., 19. 
Water supply, 39. 
Weight and height averages, 74. 
Woodwork, 312. 



